TMS SMART – scalp mapping of annoyance ratings and twitches caused by Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Background: The magnetic pulse generated during transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) also stimulates cutaneous nerves and muscle fibres, with the most commonly reported side effect being muscle twitches and sometimes painful sensations. These sensations affect behaviour during experimental tasks, presenting a potential confound for ‘online’ TMS studies. New method: Our objective was to systematically map the degree of disturbance (ratings of annoyance, pain, and muscle twitches) caused by TMS at 43 locations across the scalp. Ten participants provided ratings whilst completing a choice reaction time task, and ten different participants provided ratings whilst completing a 'flanker' reaction time task. Results: TMS over frontal and inferior regions resulted in the highest ratings of annoyance, pain, and muscle twitches caused by TMS. We predicted the difference in reaction times (RT) under TMS by scalp location and subjective ratings. Frontal and inferior scalp locations showed the greatest cost to RTs under TMS (i.e., slowing), with midline sites showing no or minimal slowing. Increases in subjective ratings of disturbance predicted longer RTs under TMS. Critically, ratings were a better predictor of the cost of TMS than scalp location or scalp-to-cortex distance. The more difficult ‘flanker’ task showed a greater effect of subjective disturbance. Comparison with existing methods: We provide the data as an online resource (www.tms-smart.info) so that researchers can select control sites that account for the level of general interference in task performance caused by online single-pulse TMS. Conclusions: The peripheral sensations and discomfort caused by TMS pulses significantly and systematically influence RTs during single-pulse, online TMS experiments. The raw data are available at www.tms-smart.info and https://osf.io/f49vn

Cortical excitability correlates with the event-related desynchronization during brain-computer interface control

Objective Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) based on motor control have been suggested as tools for stroke rehabilitation. Some initial successes have been achieved with this approach, however the mechanism by which they work is not yet fully understood. One possible part of this mechanism is a, previously suggested, relationship between the strength of the event-related desynchronization (ERD), a neural correlate of motor imagination and execution, and corticospinal excitability. Additionally, a key component of BCIs used in neurorehabilitation is the provision of visual feedback to positively reinforce attempts at motor control. However, the ability of visual feedback of the ERD to modulate the activity in the motor system has not been fully explored. Approach We investigate these relationships via transcranial magnetic stimulation delivered at different moments in the ongoing ERD related to hand contraction and relaxation during BCI control of a visual feedback bar. Main results We identify a significant relationship between ERD strength and corticospinal excitability, and find that our visual feedback does not affect corticospinal excitability. Significance Our results imply that efforts to promote functional recovery in stroke by targeting increases in corticospinal excitability may be aided by accounting for the time course of the ERD

Peripersonal space: a multisensory interface for body-object interactions

Research in the last four decades has brought a considerable advance in our understanding of how the brain synthesizes information arising from different sensory modalities. Indeed, many cortical and subcortical areas, beyond those traditionally considered to be ‘associative,’ have been shown to be involved in multisensory interaction and integration (Ghazanfar and Schroeder 2006). Visuo-tactile interaction is of particular interest, because of the prominent role played by vision in guiding our actions and anticipating their tactile consequences in everyday life. In this chapter, we focus on the functional role that visuo-tactile processing may play in driving two types of body-object interactions: avoidance and approach. We will first review some basic features of visuo-tactile interactions, as revealed by electrophysiological studies in monkeys. These will prove to be relevant for interpreting the subsequent evidence arising from human studies. A crucial point that will be stressed is that these visuo-tactile mechanisms have not only sensory, but also motor-related activity that qualifies them as multisensory-motor interfaces. Evidence will then be presented for the existence of functionally homologous processing in the human brain, both from neuropsychological research in brain-damaged patients and in healthy participants. The final part of the chapter will focus on some recent studies in humans showing that the human motor system is provided with a multisensory interface that allows for continuous monitoring of the space near the body (i.e., peripersonal space). We further demonstrate that multisensory processing can be modulated on-line as a consequence of interacting with objects. This indicates that, far from being passive, the monitoring of peripersonal space is an active process subserving actions between our body and objects located in the space around us

Examining the Relationship Between Teacher Performance Ratings and District Under the Ohio Teacher Evaluation System

The soundness of the Ohio Teacher Evaluation System (OTES) depends heavily on evaluators’ uniform interpretation of the qualitative Teacher Performance rubric. This study investigates the relationship between teachers’ district of employment, and the Teacher Performance ratings they receive under OTES. For Ohio districts that implemented OTES in 2012-2013, 2013-2014, and 2014-2015, the proportion of various Teacher Performance ratings and Student Growth Measures ratings are examined and compared to statewide proportions, using descriptive data and a log-linear model. Findings speak to the importance of a continued or renewed emphasis on fostering uniform interpretation and implementation of teacher evaluation rubrics and systems

Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Over the Left Posterior Middle Temporal Gyrus Reduces Wrist Velocity During Emblematic Hand Gesture Imitation

Results from neuropsychological studies, and neuroimaging and behavioural experiments with healthy individuals, suggest that the imitation of meaningful and meaningless actions may be reliant on different processing routes. The left posterior middle temporal gyrus (pMTG) is one area that might be important for the recognition and imitation of meaningful actions. We studied the role of the left pMTG in imitation using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and two-person motion-tracking. Participants imitated meaningless and emblematic meaningful hand and finger gestures performed by a confederate actor whilst both individuals were motion-tracked. rTMS was applied during action observation (before imitation) over the left pMTG or a vertex control site. Since meaningless action imitation has been previously associated with a greater wrist velocity and longer correction period at the end of the movement, we hypothesised that stimulation over the left pMTG would increase wrist velocity and extend the correction period of meaningful actions (i.e., due to interference with action recognition). We also hypothesised that imitator accuracy (actor-imitator correspondence) would be reduced following stimulation over the left pMTG. Contrary to our hypothesis, we found that stimulation over the pMTG, but not the vertex, during action observation reduced wrist velocity when participants later imitated meaningful, but not meaningless, hand gestures. These results provide causal evidence for a role of the left pMTG in the imitation of meaningful gestures, and may also be in keeping with proposals that left posterior temporal regions play a role in the production of postural components of gesture

Improvement in children’s fine motor skills following a computerized typing intervention

Children spend a large proportion of their school day engaged in tasks that require manual dexterity. If children experience difficulties with their manual dexterity skills it can have a consequential effect on their academic achievement. The first aim of this paper was to explore whether an online interactive typing intervention could improve children’s scores on a standardised measure of manual dexterity. The second aim was to implement a serial reaction time tapping task as an index of children's finger movement learning, and to see whether performance on this task would improve after the intervention. Seventy-eight typically developing children aged between 8 and 10 were tested at their school on the pre-intervention Movement Assessment Battery for Children (2 nd edition; MABC-2) and tapping tasks. Twenty-eight of these children volunteered to be randomly allocated to the intervention or control group. Children in the intervention group had a choice of two online games to play at home over a period of four weeks, while the children in the control group were not given these games to play. The intervention and control groups were then re-tested on the MABC-2 manual dexterity and the tapping task. Children in the intervention group significantly improved their manual dexterity scores in the MABC-2 compared to the control group. On average, all children learnt the tapping sequence, however, there were no group differences and no effect of the intervention on the tapping task. These results have important implications for implementing a freely available, easy to administer, fun and interactive intervention to help children improve their manual dexterity skills

Suppression of RAF/MEK or PI3K synergizes cytotoxicity of receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors in glioma tumor-initiating cells

Additional file 5. Data of RPPA analysis

The effect of a regular auditory context on perceived interval Duration

In the auditory domain, the perceived duration of time intervals is influenced by background sounds – the auditory context in which the intervals are embedded – even when the background may be ignored. Previous research has shown that a regular context made of evenly spaced sounds improves participants’ discrimination of intervals close in duration to the context intervals. These results have been explained in terms of attention and anticipation. The present study reconsiders the effect of context regularity, focusing on the relationships among the intervals in the context and the interval to be estimated. The influence of a regular compared to a non-regular auditory context on interval discrimination was examined with a two interval forced choice task, which required participants to discriminate between the durations of two time intervals. Duration perception was more precise when the intervals to be discriminated were preceded by a regular compared to a non-regular context. This effect of the regular context, however, was not selective for the duration of the first interval to be estimated, contrary to suggestions based on previous evidenc