Increasing human motor skill acquisition by driving theta-gamma coupling

Skill learning is a fundamental adaptive process, but the mechanisms remain poorly understood. Some learning paradigms, particularly in the memory domain, are closely associated with gamma activity that is amplitude modulated by the phase of underlying theta activity, but whether such nested activit...

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Published ineLife Vol. 10
Main Authors Akkad, Haya, Dupont-Hadwen, Joshua, Kane, Edward, Evans, Carys, Barrett, Liam, Frese, Amba, Tetkovic, Irena, Bestmann, Sven, Stagg, Charlotte J
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England eLife Science Publications, Ltd 23.11.2021
eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
Subjects
Activity patterns
Adult
Brain
Cortex (somatosensory)
Electric properties
Experiments
Female
Hippocampus
Humans
Learning - physiology
Male
Motor ability
Motor learning
Motor skill learning
Motor Skills - physiology
Neuroscience
non-invasive brain stimulation
Physiological aspects
Psychomotor Performance
Skills
theta-gamma coupling
transcranial alternating current stimulation
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation
Young Adult
United States
theta-gamma coupling
transcranial alternating current stimulation
motor learning
human
neuroscience
non-invasive brain stimulation
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Summary:Skill learning is a fundamental adaptive process, but the mechanisms remain poorly understood. Some learning paradigms, particularly in the memory domain, are closely associated with gamma activity that is amplitude modulated by the phase of underlying theta activity, but whether such nested activity patterns also underpin skill learning is unknown. Here, we addressed this question by using transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) over sensorimotor cortex to modulate theta-gamma activity during motor skill acquisition, as an exemplar of a non-hippocampal-dependent task. We demonstrated, and then replicated, a significant improvement in skill acquisition with theta-gamma tACS, which outlasted the stimulation by an hour. Our results suggest that theta-gamma activity may be a common mechanism for learning across the brain and provides a putative novel intervention for optimizing functional improvements in response to training or therapy.
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These authors contributed equally to this work.
ISSN:2050-084X
2050-084X
DOI:10.7554/eLife.67355