Schedule of Events | Symposia

High-definition transcranial direct current stimulation of the primary motor cortex modulates the planning and execution of movement sequences

Poster Session F - Tuesday, April 1, 2025, 8:00 – 10:00 am EDT, Back Bay Ballroom/Republic Ballroom

Tara D. Erker¹, Jake J. Son^1,2, Thomas W. Ward^1,3, Yasra Arif¹, Peihan J. Huang^1,3, Jason A. John¹, Kellen M. McDonald^1,3, Nathan M. Petro¹, Grant Garrison¹, Hannah J. Okelberry¹, Kennedy A. Kress¹, Giorgia Picci^1,3, Elizabeth Heinrichs-Graham^1,2,3, Tony W. Wilson^1,2,3; ¹Boys Town National Research Hospital, ²University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), ³Creighton University

Motor control is utilized in many aspects of daily life, though many conditions, including aging, psychopathology, and neurological disorders, can impair motor control. It has been widely shown that noninvasive stimulation of the primary motor cortex can modulate network level activity and has significant effects on motor task performance. The mechanisms of noninvasive stimulation are still poorly understood, but determining how noninvasive stimulation impacts the neural networks associated with motor control could lead to breakthroughs in its therapeutic potential in those with neurological conditions affecting the motor system. Thus, we applied high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS) to the primary motor cortex and subsequently utilized magnetoencephalography (MEG) to image the spectral, spatial, and temporal effects of the stimulation on neural responses supporting motor control. Sixty-seven participants completed three HD-tDCS visits (anode, cathode, and sham) that consisted of 20 minutes of left primary motor cortex stimulation followed by MEG. Whole-brain statistical analyses of beta oscillatory responses revealed stimulation-by-task interaction effects in the left primary motor cortex, right occipitotemporal, and the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortices during the planning phase. In these regions, stronger beta oscillatory responses during simple movement sequences were observed following anodal stimulation, but there was no effect of stimulation on neural responses in relation to complex motor sequences. Overall, our data suggests that noninvasive stimulation greatly impacts motor planning, and that the polarity of stimulation and difficulty of movement sequence heavily influence how effective stimulation can be in modulating the beta oscillations.

Topic Area: PERCEPTION & ACTION: Motor control