Biology subjects

Hwang, H.-J.

Publications and source records attributed to Hwang, H.-J..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2022

Investigation of neuromodulatory effect of anodal cerebellar transcranial direct current stimulation on the primary motor cortex using functional near-infrared spectroscopy

BackgroundCerebellar brain inhibition (CBI), a neural connection between the cerebellum and primary motor cortex (M1), has been researched as a target pathway for neuromodulation to improve clinical outcomes in various neurological diseases. However, conflicting results of anodal cerebellar transcranial direct current stimulation (acb-tDCS) on M1 excitability indicate that additional investigation is required to examine its precise effect. Objective/HypothesisThis study aimed to gather evidence of the neuromodulatory effect of acb-tDCS on the M1 using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). MethodsSixteen healthy participants were included in this cross-over study. Participants received real and sham acb-tDCS in a random order, with a minimum one-week washout period between them. The anode and cathode were placed on the right cerebellum and the right buccinator muscle, respectively. Stimulation lasted 20 min at an intensity of 2 mA, and fNIRS data were recorded for 42 min (including a 4 min baseline before stimulation and an 18 min post-stimulation duration) using eight channels attached bilaterally on the M1. Resultsacb-tDCS induced a significant decrease in oxyhemoglobin (HbO) concentration (inhibitory effect) in the left (contralateral) M1, whereas it induced a significant increase in HbO concentration (excitatory effect) in the right (ipsilateral) M1 compared to sham tDCS during (p < 0.05) and after stimulation (p < 0.01) in a group level analysis. At the individual level, variations in the response to acb-tDCS were observed. ConclusionOur findings demonstrate the neuromodulatory effects of acb-tDCS on the bilateral M1 in terms of neuronal hemodynamics.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2021

An artificial Neural-Network Approach for Motor Hotspot Identification Based on Electroencephalography: A Proof-of-Concept Study

BackgroundTo apply transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) to the motor cortex, motor hotspots are generally identified using motor evoked potentials by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). The objective of this study is to validate the feasibility of a novel electroencephalography (EEG)-based motor-hotspot-identification approach using a machine learning technique as a potential alternative to TMS. MethodsEEG data were measured using 63 channels from thirty subjects as they performed a simple finger tapping task. Power spectral densities of the EEG data were extracted from six frequency bands (delta, theta, alpha, beta, gamma, and full) and were independently used to train and test an artificial neural network for motor hotspot identification. The 3D coordinate information of individual motor hotspots identified by TMS were quantitatively compared with those estimated by our EEG-based motor-hotspot-identification approach to assess its feasibility. ResultsThe minimum mean error distance between the motor hotspot locations identified by TMS and our proposed motor-hotspot-identification approach was 0.22 {+/-} 0.03 cm, demonstrating the proof-of-concept of our proposed EEG-based approach. A mean error distance of 1.32 {+/-} 0.15 cm was measured when using only nine channels attached to the middle of the motor cortex, showing the possibility of practically using the proposed motor-hotspot-identification approach based on a relatively small number of EEG channels. ConclusionWe demonstrated the feasibility of our novel EEG-based motor-hotspot-identification method. It is expected that our approach can be used as an alternative to TMS for motor hotspot identification. In particular, its usability would significantly increase when using a recently developed portable tES device integrated with an EEG device.

bioengineering↗