Suppression of Motor Sequence Learning and Execution Through Anodal Cerebellar Transcranial Electrical Stimulation

Cerebellum (CB) and primary motor cortex (M1) have been associated with motor learning, with different putative roles. Modulation of task performance through application of transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS) to brain structures provides causal evidence for their engagement in the task. S...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cerebellum (London, England) England), 2023-12, Vol.22 (6), p.1152-1165
Main Authors: Voegtle, Angela, Terlutter, Clara, Nikolai, Katharina, Farahat, Amr, Hinrichs, Hermann, Sweeney-Reed, Catherine M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biomedicine
Cerebellum
Cortex (motor)
Electrical stimulation of the brain
Electrical stimuli
Epilepsy
ESB
Intelligence tests
Learning
Motor ability
Motor skill learning
Neurobiology
Neurology
Neurosciences
Original Article
Reaction time task
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Summary:Cerebellum (CB) and primary motor cortex (M1) have been associated with motor learning, with different putative roles. Modulation of task performance through application of transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS) to brain structures provides causal evidence for their engagement in the task. Studies evaluating and comparing TDCS to these structures have provided conflicting results, however, likely due to varying paradigms and stimulation parameters. Here we applied TDCS to CB and M1 within the same experimental design, to enable direct comparison of their roles in motor sequence learning. We examined the effects of anodal TDCS during motor sequence learning in 60 healthy participants, randomly allocated to CB-TDCS, M1-TDCS, or Sham stimulation groups during a serial reaction time task. Key to the design was an equal number of repeated and random sequences. Reaction times (RTs) to implicitly learned and random sequences were compared between groups using ANOVAs and post hoc t -tests. A speed–accuracy trade-off was excluded by analogous analysis of accuracy scores. An interaction was observed between whether responses were to learned or random sequences and the stimulation group. Post hoc analyses revealed a preferential slowing of RTs to implicitly learned sequences in the group receiving CB-TDCS. Our findings provide evidence that CB function can be modulated through transcranial application of a weak electrical current, that the CB and M1 cortex perform separable functions in the task, and that the CB plays a specific role in motor sequence learning during implicit motor sequence learning.
ISSN:1473-4230
1473-4222
1473-4230
DOI:10.1007/s12311-022-01487-0