Acquisition of Conditioned Eyeblink Responses is Modulated by Cerebellar tDCS

Zuchowski, Matthias; Timmann, Dagmar; Gerwig, Marcus

doi:10.1016/j.brs.2014.03.010

Cited by 70 publications

(82 citation statements)

References 72 publications

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“…Given the critical involvement of the cerebellum during this form of learning, it was not surprising to see cerebellar activations as most prominent. This finding is in line with human EBC investigations that highlight the role of the cerebellum using multiple approaches, including neuroimaging (Ernst et al, ; Kirsch et al, ; Molchan et al, ), patient/lesion (Gerwig et al, ; Steiner et al, ), and neuromodulation techniques (Beyer et al, ; van der Vliet et al, ; Zuchowski et al, ). The present neuroimaging data showed that, despite poorer conditioning, AUD participants recruited more regions and demonstrated higher cerebellar activation than healthy participants.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

Neural Substrates Underlying Eyeblink Classical Conditioning in Adults With Alcohol Use Disorders

Cheng

Rice

McCaul

et al. 2020

Alcoholism Clin & Exp Res

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Background Excessive alcohol consumption produces changes in the brain that often lead to cognitive impairments. One fundamental form of learning, eyeblink classical conditioning (EBC), has been widely used to study the neurobiology of learning and memory. Participants with alcohol use disorders (AUD) have consistently shown a behavioral deficit in EBC. The present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study is the first to examine brain function during conditioning in abstinent AUD participants and healthy participants. Methods AUD participants met DSM‐IV criteria for alcohol dependence, had at least a 10‐year history of heavy drinking, and were abstinent from alcohol for at least 30 days. During fMRI, participants received auditory tones that predicted the occurrence of corneal airpuffs. Anticipatory eyeblink responses to these tones were monitored during the experiment to assess learning‐related changes. Results Behavioral results indicate that AUD participants showed significant conditioning deficits and that their history of lifetime drinks corresponded to these deficits. Despite this learning impairment, AUD participants showed hyperactivation in several key cerebellar structures (including lobule VI) during conditioning. For all participants, history of lifetime drinks corresponded with their lobule VI activity. Conclusions These findings suggest that excessive alcohol consumption is associated with abnormal cerebellar hyperactivation and conditioning impairments.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

Neural Substrates Underlying Eyeblink Classical Conditioning in Adults With Alcohol Use Disorders

Cheng

Rice

McCaul

et al. 2020

Alcoholism Clin & Exp Res

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“…atDCS paired to learning facilitated locomotor (Jayaram et al, 2012), force field (Herzfeld et al, 2014) adaptation and eye-blink conditioning (Zuchowski et al, 2014) tasks. Surprisingly, post-stimulation deadaptation curves (Jayaram et al, 2012; Herzfeld et al, 2014) or extinction rate (Zuchowski et al, 2014) showed no polarity specific differences.…”

Section: Temporal Extentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) on Neuronal Functions

et al. 2016

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Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a non-invasive brain stimulation technique, modulates neuronal excitability by the application of a small electrical current. The low cost and ease of the technique has driven interest in potential clinical applications. However, outcomes are highly sensitive to stimulation parameters, leading to difficulty maximizing the technique's effectiveness. Although reversing the polarity of stimulation often causes opposite effects, this is not always the case. Effective clinical application will require an understanding of how tDCS works; how it modulates a neuron; how it affects the local network; and how it alters inter-network signaling. We have summarized what is known regarding the mechanisms of tDCS from sub-cellular processing to circuit level communication with a particular focus on what can be learned from the polarity specificity of the effects.

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“…In previous studies in humans [35] and in rabbits [36], anodal stimulation of the cerebellum or the somatosensory cortex, respectively, has resulted in faster acquisition of conditioned responses. Such an observation can be explained by the tendency of the anodal current to slightly depolarize neurons of the underlying cortex, which results in greater local field potentials elicited by stimuli and, thus, more efficient formation of synaptic associations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…A novel, cost-effective method of neuromodulation, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), has also been suggested to modulate the occurrence of conditioning in humans [18]. By using a very low electric current passed through the cranium to the cerebral cortex using surface electrodes, tDCS can either downregulate or upregulate neural processes, depending on the electrode positioning and current polarity [19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%