Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Association Areas of the Cortex01:21

Association Areas of the Cortex

9.4K
Association areas are regions of the cerebral cortex that do not have a specific sensory or motor function. Instead, they integrate and interpret information from various sources to enable higher cognitive processes such as memory, learning, and decision-making. Some key association areas include the following:
Prefrontal Association Area: This area is located in the frontal lobe and is involved in planning, decision-making, and moderating social behavior. It connects with primary motor areas,...
9.4K
Excitation-Contraction Coupling in Skeletal Muscles01:20

Excitation-Contraction Coupling in Skeletal Muscles

15.2K
Excitation-contraction coupling is a series of events that occur between generating an action potential and initiating a muscle contraction. It occurs at the triad, a structure found in skeletal muscle fibers that comprise a T-tubule and terminal cisternae of the sarcoplasmic reticulum on each side. These triads are visible in longitudinally sectioned muscle fibers. They are typically located at the A-I junction — the junction between the A and I bands of the sarcomere.
When an action...
15.2K
Motor and Sensory Areas of the Cortex01:14

Motor and Sensory Areas of the Cortex

7.6K
The cerebral cortex, the brain's outermost layer, is pivotal in processing complex cognitive tasks, emotions, and various sensory inputs and executing voluntary motor activities. This intricate structure is divided into three primary functional areas: the motor areas, sensory areas, and association areas.
Motor Areas
The motor areas located in the frontal lobe are central to controlling voluntary movements. This region is further subdivided into the primary motor cortex and the premotor cortex....
7.6K
Stimulants01:29

Stimulants

1.0K
Stimulants are substances that enhance neural activity and elevate dopamine levels in the brain, leading to their highly addictive nature. These drugs include cocaine, amphetamines, MDMA, caffeine, and nicotine, each with distinct mechanisms of action and varied health implications.
Cocaine can be administered via snorting, injection, or smoking. It primarily functions by blocking the reuptake of dopamine, resulting in a euphoric high characterized by an intense sensation of happiness and...
1.0K
Somatosensory, Motor, and Association Cortex01:23

Somatosensory, Motor, and Association Cortex

2.8K
The somatosensory cortex in the parietal lobes is crucial for interpreting sensory data such as touch, temperature, and proprioception. The somatosensory cortex, situated in the parietal lobes, plays a vital role in interpreting sensory information like touch, temperature, and proprioception—awareness of body position. This specialized brain region features an organized structure wherein neurons at the top primarily process sensations originating from the lower body. In contrast, those at...
2.8K
Role of Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex in Memory01:14

Role of Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex in Memory

1.2K
The cerebellum, while traditionally associated with motor control, also plays a crucial role in memory, particularly in procedural memory, which involves learning motor tasks that become automatic through repetition. For example, studies have shown that when the cerebellum is damaged, individuals or animals lose the ability to learn conditioned motor responses, such as the conditioned eye-blink response in classical conditioning experiments with rabbits. This study demonstrates the...
1.2K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

A neuroimaging meta-analysis on social impression formation of stable characteristics.

Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)·2026
Same author

Dissociating mechanisms of spatial suppression and summation in human visual cortical regions MT/V5: a transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) study and clinical implications.

International review of psychiatry (Abingdon, England)·2026
Same author

Hemispheric Dissociation Revealed by Attentional Isolation and Transcranial Random Noise Stimulation.

Journal of cognitive neuroscience·2026
Same author

Boosting proactive motor control via statistical learning with brain stimulation.

NeuroImage·2025
Same author

The Pathophysiological Underpinnings of Gamma-Band Alterations in Psychiatric Disorders.

Life (Basel, Switzerland)·2024
Same author

A chronometric study of the posterior cerebellum's function in emotional processing.

Current biology : CB·2024

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 6, 2026

Assessing Primary Motor Cortex Excitability and Excitability Modulation by Pairing Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation with Electromyography
12:13

Assessing Primary Motor Cortex Excitability and Excitability Modulation by Pairing Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation with Electromyography

Published on: October 7, 2025

716

Modulating the excitability of the visual cortex using a stimulation priming paradigm.

Florian Herpich1, Federica Contò1, Martijn van Koningsbruggen2

  • 1Center for Neuroscience and Cognitive Systems@UniTn, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rovereto, Italy; Center for Mind/Brain Sciences - CIMeC, University of Trento, 38122 Trento, Italy.

Neuropsychologia
|August 15, 2018
PubMed
Summary

Transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS) increases visual cortex excitability for up to an hour. This finding suggests tRNS may enhance cognitive functions by promoting sustained cortical plasticity.

Keywords:
Cortical excitabilityState dependent cortical responseTranscranial random noise stimulationVisual cortex

More Related Videos

Corticospinal Excitability Modulation During Action Observation
12:33

Corticospinal Excitability Modulation During Action Observation

Published on: December 31, 2013

9.4K
Stimulating the Lip Motor Cortex with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
12:09

Stimulating the Lip Motor Cortex with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Published on: June 14, 2014

19.7K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Feb 6, 2026

Assessing Primary Motor Cortex Excitability and Excitability Modulation by Pairing Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation with Electromyography
12:13

Assessing Primary Motor Cortex Excitability and Excitability Modulation by Pairing Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation with Electromyography

Published on: October 7, 2025

716
Corticospinal Excitability Modulation During Action Observation
12:33

Corticospinal Excitability Modulation During Action Observation

Published on: December 31, 2013

9.4K
Stimulating the Lip Motor Cortex with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
12:09

Stimulating the Lip Motor Cortex with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Published on: June 14, 2014

19.7K

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Science
  • Neurostimulation

Background:

  • Transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS) is known to increase corticospinal excitability in the motor cortex.
  • Behavioral studies suggest tRNS may enhance cognitive functions like visual attention and mathematical skills, implying sustained cortical plasticity.
  • It remains unclear if tRNS over visual areas increases cortical excitability similarly to the motor cortex.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if priming the visual cortex with tRNS leads to increased and sustained cortical excitability.
  • To measure excitability changes in the visual cortex using visual phosphenes.

Main Methods:

  • Phosphene thresholds (PTs) were measured using a staircase method to quantify cortical excitability.
  • Single-pulse Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) elicited phosphenes before, and at intervals up to one hour after, 20-minute tRNS, anodal transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (a-tDCS), or sham stimulation.

Main Results:

  • tRNS significantly reduced phosphene thresholds up to 60 minutes post-stimulation, indicating increased visual cortex excitability.
  • The magnitude and duration of excitability increase following tRNS were comparable to those observed in the motor cortex.
  • Anodal tDCS (a-tDCS) did not produce significant changes in phosphene thresholds.

Conclusions:

  • tRNS effectively increases and sustains visual cortex excitability.
  • These findings support the potential of tRNS as a tool to enhance cognitive functions through sustained cortical plasticity.
  • The observed effects of tRNS on visual cortex excitability are similar to those previously reported for the motor cortex.