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Non-Invasive Electrical Brain Stimulation Montages for Modulation of Human Motor Function

Non-Invasive Electrical Brain Stimulation Montages for Modulation of Human Motor Function

Published on: February 4, 2016

Hijacking cortical motor output with repetitive microstimulation.

Darcy M Griffin¹, Heather M Hudson, Abderraouf Belhaj-Saïf

¹Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas 66160, USA.

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience

|September 16, 2011

Summary

High-frequency stimulation of the motor cortex may hijack neural activity, replacing natural signals rather than summing with them. This finding challenges assumptions about how brain stimulation interacts with ongoing neural processes.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Motor Control
Cortical Electrophysiology

Background:

High-frequency repetitive microstimulation is a common tool for studying motor cortex output.
Limited research exists on how stimulated cortical activity interacts with natural synaptic inputs.
Previous assumptions suggested additive effects, but a replacement mechanism is possible.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the interaction between high-frequency stimulation-evoked activity and natural cortical activity.
To test the hypothesis that stimulation might block and replace ongoing neural signals, termed 'neural hijacking'.

Main Methods:

Analysis of electromyography (EMG) activity.
Repetitive microstimulation (200 Hz, 500 ms) applied to the primary motor cortex.
Experiments conducted in two rhesus monkeys performing a reach-to-grasp task.

Main Results:

Evidence strongly supports the 'neural hijacking' hypothesis.
Stimulus-evoked firing appears to replace, not sum with, natural cortical activity.
Observed EMG activity patterns are consistent with neural hijacking during a motor task.

Conclusions:

High-frequency microstimulation of the primary motor cortex can hijack neural activity.
This hijacking phenomenon involves replacing natural cortical signals with stimulus-evoked firing.
Findings necessitate a re-evaluation of how microstimulation influences cortical processing during motor tasks.