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Although the role of the cerebellum in motor sequences learning is widely established, the specific function of its gamma oscillatory activity still remains unclear. In the present study, gamma (50 Hz)—or delta (1 Hz)—transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) was applied to the right cerebellar cortex while participants performed an implicit serial reaction time task (SRTT) with their right hand. The task required the execution of motor sequences simultaneously with the presentation of a series of visual stimuli. The same sequence was repeated across multiple task blocks (from blocks 2 to 5 and from blocks 7 to 8), whereas in other blocks, new/pseudorandom sequences were reproduced (blocks 1 and 6). Task performance was examined before and during tACS. To test possible after-effects of cerebellar tACS on the contralateral primary motor cortex (M1), corticospinal excitability was assessed by examining the amplitude of motor potentials (MEP) evoked by single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Compared with delta stimulation, gamma-tACS applied during the SRTT impaired participants’ performance in blocks where the same motor sequence was repeated but not in blocks where the new pseudorandom sequences were presented. Noteworthy, the later assessed corticospinal excitability was not affected. These results suggest that cerebellar gamma oscillations mediate the implicit acquisition of motor sequences but do not affect task execution itself. Overall, this study provides evidence of a specific role of cerebellar gamma oscillatory activity in implicit motor learning.

Anatomo functional studies of prism adaptation (PA) have been shown to modulate a brain frontal-parieto-temporal network, increasing activation of this network in the hemisphere ipsilateral to the side of prism deviation. This effect raises the hypothesis that left prism adaptation, modulating frontal areas of the left hemisphere, could modify subjects’ performance on linguistic tasks that map on those areas. To test this hypothesis, 51 healthy subjects participated in experiments in which leftward or rightward prism adaptation were applied before the execution of a phonemic fluency task, i.e., a task with strict left hemispheric lateralization onto frontal areas. Results showed that leftward PA significantly increased the number of words produced whereas rightward PA did not significantly modulate phonemic fluency. The present findings document modulation of a language ability following prism adaptation. The results could have a huge clinical impact in neurological populations, opening new strategies of intervention for language and executive dysfunctions.

Today digital media are configured as social environments that expand our personal, cultural, social and educational reality, therefore measuring citizens’ activities in online environments is of fundamental importance. In the last decade, different scholars have proposed different definitions of the digital citizenship and different measurement tools. Most definitions focus on two conceptions of digital citizenship, some more inherent in digital skills and others centered on critical aspects and civic engagement. In this study, we present the translation and Italian adaptation of two scales: the Digital Citizenship Scale by Al-Zahrani (2015) and the Digital Citizenship Scale by Choi, Glassman, and Cristol (2017). These two scales, consisting of a total of 72 items, were administered to 198 undergraduate students attending to the LM-85bis Master’s Degree Course at University of Palermo. We then proceeded with the reliability analysis by calculating the Alpha of Cronbach and the correlation between individual items and the total scale. The goal was to determine which profile, dimensions and digital citizenship needs characterize the participant university students. The results show that participants have good levels of digital citizenship in terms of respect and education for themselves and for others and in the self-assessment of technical skills in the digital field. Lower levels are recorded in participation and collaboration on cultural, social, political and economic issues.