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Published on: September 28, 2018
Changing Sensory Eye Dominance With Theta Burst Stimulation Over Visual Cortex
Junyu Wang1, Allen M Y Cheong2, Dorita H F Chang1
1Department of Psychology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Objectives:
Sensory eye dominance (SED) reflects interocular imbalance and is present in both normal and binocularly abnormal visual systems. SED seems to implicate primary visual cortex (V1). Here, we investigated the effects of theta burst stimulation (TBS) over V1 on SED and stereopsis.
Materials And Methods:
We tested 120 healthy adults with normal vision. In experiment 1 (n = 80; 19-34 years), participants received either excitatory (intermittent TBS [iTBS]) or inhibitory (continuous TBS [cTBS]) TBS over V1 or vertex (Cz). SED and stereoacuity were assessed before and after stimulation. In experiment 2 (n = 40; 20-35 years), we tracked the temporal characteristics of SED changes after iTBS over V1. SED was repeatedly indexed at 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, and 90 minutes post stimulation.
Results:
We found that iTBS (but not cTBS) significantly reduced SED when delivered over V1 (but not Cz). Stimulation of all areas had no effect on stereoacuity. SED reduction peaked at 15 minutes and returned to baseline by 45 minutes.
Conclusions:
These findings highlight the crucial role of V1 in regulating binocular balance. We conjecture that the iTBS-induced effects on cortical excitability act to transiently rebalance interocular competitive interactions.
