Biology subjects

Di Bernardi Luft, C.

Publications and source records attributed to Di Bernardi Luft, C..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

tACS increases alpha burst duration in a frequency- and montage-specific manner

Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) can experimentally manipulate neural oscillations in humans non-invasively. Previous studies consistently suggest that 10 Hz tACS in posterior regions leads to a general increase in alpha (7-15 Hz) oscillations. However, the specificity of this effect regarding stimulation frequency and location as well as its consequences on cognition are still unclear. We therefore aimed to investigate whether the putative effects of tACS on neural oscillations and cognition are specific to posterior stimulation in the alpha frequency range. We tested these effects using a 2 x 2 design (posterior or fronto-parietal stimulation, at 10 Hz or 6 Hz) plus a no-stimulation control group, during a sustained attention task.158 healthy participants were randomly allocated to control group (no stimulation) or one of the four active groups. All participants underwent an Electroencephalography recording and completed the Amsterdam Resting State Questionnaire before and after stimulation. Our results show that, relative to the control group, alpha power increases significantly after stimulation for the group receiving posterior 10 Hz stimulation and that this was explained by an increase in alpha oscillatory bursts duration rather than their amplitude. On the other hand, no significant differences were found between active and controls groups in behavioural performance or resting state cognition. Together, our findings demonstrate that tACS increases the duration of alpha oscillatory bursts in a montage- and frequency-specific manner and that this modulation is not accompanied by significant changes in sustained attention during stimulation or resting state cognition after stimulation.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2026

Cardiac Timing Biases Creative Exploration and Exploitation

Creative ideation involves a dynamic exchange between exploring new idea categories and exploiting familiar ones, reflecting optimal foraging principles. Although interoceptive signals, particularly cardiac activity, are associated with differences in attention and cognitive control, their role in explore-exploit dynamics during creative idea generation remains unknown. Recording both electroencephalography (EEG) and electrocardiography (ECG) data, we used convolution general linear models to examine cardiac-brain interactions underlying semantic exploration and exploitation during creative idea generation, in both spontaneous (self-selected) and directed (externally cued) conditions. Cardiac deceleration predicted ideation time: this relationship scaled nonlinearly during exploration (category switching), but linearly during exploitation (category persistence), in both conditions. Cardiac deceleration did not predict semantic distance (between response and cue word) or response accuracy during the directed condition, suggesting that heart rate slowing reflects cognitive effort allocation rather than ideational content. Cardiac phase systematically biased explore-exploit dynamics: spontaneous switching and accurate directed-switching were preferentially associated with diastolic phases and parieto-occipital alpha (8-12 Hz) desynchronization, whereas category persistence was associated with systolic phase timing and frontal theta (4-6 Hz) synchronization. The former activity was coupled to higher CD, as expected. However, the latter time-frequency activity was linked to responses timed to systole. These findings suggest that creative ideation unfolds through embodied cardiac-cortical coordination, whereby diastolic states are associated with flexible semantic exploration and alpha-related attentional dynamics, whereas systolic states are associated with exploitative persistence and theta-related control processes. This suggests interoceptive rhythms as temporal scaffolding that structures when and how ideas emerge, fundamentally expanding creativity neuroscience beyond purely cortical models.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2026

Creativity drives performer-listener emotional and physiological alignment in live music improvisation

Music is a fundamental medium for human communication, yet it remains unclear whether it enables genuine alignment of internally felt emotions beyond mere emotion perception. Creative expression may be central to this process: when performers improvise with creative intent, they engage in self-expression that could draw listeners into closer emotional and physiological resonance. Here, dual-electrocardiography was recorded across 37 performer-listener dyads while performers generated live improvisations under conventional, unconventional, or creative instructions. We show that creative improvisation enhances dyadic emotional alignment for both valence and arousal, and increases cardiac synchronization. Performer-listener alignment was strongest when performers felt and expressed emotions were themselves aligned, and when listeners showed a gradual arousal buildup. Creativity also elicited higher sublimity, lower unease and vitality, and greater diversity of selected emotional labels. These findings establish creativity as a mechanism through which music achieves one of its most celebrated functions: the creation of shared human experience.

neuroscience↗