title: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Reveals Intrinsic Perceptual and Attentional Rhythms.
abstract: Oscillatory brain activity has functional relevance for perceptual and cognitive processes, as proven by numerous electrophysiology studies accumulating over the years. However, only within the past two decades have researchers been able to study the causal role of such oscillations using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) technology. Two complementary approaches exist. A majority of research employs rhythmic TMS (rTMS) to entrain oscillatory activity and investigate its effect on targeted brain functions. On the other hand, single pulses of TMS (spTMS) that can be delivered with a high spatio-temporal resolution, can be used to precisely probe the state of the system. In this mini-review, we concentrate on this second approach. We argue that, with noa priorihypothesis on the oscillatory frequency of the targeted cortical regions, spTMS can help establish causal links between spontaneous oscillatory activity and perceptual and cognitive functions. Notably, this approach helped to demonstrate that the occipital cortex is periodically involved during specific attentional tasks at the theta (~5 Hz) frequency. We propose that this frequency reflects periodic inter-areal communication for attentional exploration and selection. In the future, clever combination of non-invasive recording and stimulation with well-controlled psychophysics protocols will allow us to further our understanding of the role of brain oscillations for human brain functions.
authors.affiliation: Unité Mixte de Recherche 8242, Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueParis, France; Laboratoire Psychologie de la Perception, Université Paris DescartesParis, France.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dugué
authors.affiliation: Unité Mixte de Recherche 5549, Faculté de Médecine de Purpan, Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueToulouse, France; Centre de Recherche Cerveau et Cognition, Université Paul Sabatier, Université de ToulouseToulouse, France.
authors.forename: Rufin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: VanRullen
keywords: TMS; attention; non-invasive; oscillations; perception; rhythms; single-pulse; spontaneous