Abstract:
Diverse strategies can be employed to enhance visual skills, including visual perceptual learning (VPL) and transcranial electrical stimulation (tES). Combining VPL and tES is a popular method that holds promise for producing significant improvements in visual acuity within a short time frame. However, there is still a lack of comprehensive evaluation regarding the effects of combining different types of tES and VPL on enhancing visual function, especially with a larger sample size. In the present study, we recruited four groups of subjects (26 subjects each) to learn an orientation discrimination task with five daily training sessions. During training, the occipital region of each subject was stimulated by one type of tES-anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), alternating current stimulation (tACS) at 10 Hz, high-frequency random noise stimulation (tRNS), and sham tACS-while the subject performed the training task. We found that, compared with the sham stimulation, both the high-frequency tRNS and the 10-Hz tACS facilitated VPL efficiently in terms of learning rate and performance improvement, but there was little modulatory effect in the anodal tDCS condition. Remarkably, the 10-Hz tACS condition exhibited superior modulatory effects compared with the tRNS condition, demonstrating the strongest modulation among the most commonly used tES types for further enhancing vision when combined with VPL. Our results suggest that alpha oscillations play a vital role in VPL. Our study provides a practical guide for vision rehabilitation.
摘要:
可以采用多种策略来增强视觉技能,包括视觉感知学习(VPL)和经颅电刺激(tES)。结合VPL和tES是一种流行的方法,有望在短时间内显著提高视敏度。然而,关于结合不同类型的tES和VPL对增强视功能的效果仍然缺乏综合评估,尤其是样本量较大的.在本研究中,我们招募了四组受试者(每组26名受试者),每天进行五次培训,以学习定向歧视任务。在培训期间,每位受试者的枕骨区都受到一种tES-阳极经颅直流电刺激(tDCS)的刺激,10Hz交流电流刺激(tACS),高频随机噪声刺激(tRNS),和假tACS-而受试者执行训练任务。我们发现,与假刺激相比,高频tRNS和10HztACS在学习率和性能改进方面都有效地促进了VPL,但在阳极tDCS条件下几乎没有调节作用。值得注意的是,与tRNS条件相比,10HztACS条件表现出更好的调节作用,证明了最常用的tES类型中最强的调制,当与VPL结合使用时,可以进一步增强视力。我们的结果表明,α振荡在VPL中起着至关重要的作用。我们的研究为视力康复提供了实用的指导。