Theta burst stimulation on the fronto-cerebellar connective network promotes cognitive processing speed in the simple cognitive task

Ning ZHAO, Jing TAO, Ho Yin Clive WONG, Jing-Song WU, Jiao LIU, Li-Dian CHEN, Tatia M. C. LEE, Yanwen XU, Che Hin Chetwyn CHAN

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlespeer-review

Abstract

Background: The fronto-cerebellar functional network has been proposed to subserve cognitive processing speed. This study aims to elucidate how the long-range frontal-to-cerebellar effective connectivity contributes to faster speed. 

Methods: In total, 60 healthy participants were randomly allocated to three five-daily sessions of transcranial magnetic stimulation conditions, namely intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS, excitatory), continuous theta-burst stimulation (CTBS, inhibitory), or a sham condition. The sites of the stimulations were the right pre-supplementary motor area (RpSMA), medial cerebellar vermis VI (MCV6), and vertex, respectively. Performances in two reaction time tasks were recorded at different time points. 

Results: Post-stimulation speeds revealed marginal decreases in the simple but not complex task. Nevertheless, participants in the excitatory RpSMA and inhibitory MCV6 conditions showed direct and negative path effects on faster speeds compared to the sham condition in the simple reaction time (SRT) task (β = −0.320, p = 0.045 and β = −0.414, p = 0.007, respectively). These path effects were not observed in the SDMT task. 

Discussion: RpSMA and MCV6 were involved in promoting the path effects of faster reaction times on simple cognitive task. This study offers further evidence to support their roles within the long-range frontal-to-cerebellar connectivity subserving cognitive processing speed. The enhancement effects, however, are likely limited to simple rather than complex mental operations. Copyright © 2024 Zhao, Tao, Wong, Wu, Liu, Chen, Lee,Xu and Chan.

Original languageEnglish
Article number1387299
JournalFrontiers in Human Neuroscience
Volume18
Early online dateJul 2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024

Citation

Zhao, N., Tao, J., Wong, C., Wu, J.-S., Liu, J., Chen, L.-D., Lee, T. M. C., Xu, Y., & Chan, C. C. H. (2024). Theta burst stimulation on the fronto-cerebellar connective network promotes cognitive processing speed in the simple cognitive task. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 18, 1387299. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2024.1387299

Keywords

  • Fronto-cerebellar
  • Functional connectivity
  • TMS
  • Cognitive processing speed
  • Reaction time

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