Neuromodulation of Cognitive Flexibility in the Frontal-Striatal Network
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Date
2025-03-24
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Abstract
Cognitive flexibility, a pivotal component of learning and decision-making, enables human and nonhuman primates to adapt their behavior in response to changing environmental conditions. Neuromodulation techniques provide insights into how stimulation causally influence and facilitate adaptive behavior during complex learning tasks. Microstimulation studies in nonhuman primates (NHPs) have contributed substantially to the advancement of our understanding of the functional organization and behaviorally roles of neuronal circuits pertinent to attention and decision-making. This modality holds immense potential for augmenting cognitive performance, particularly in complex cognitive tasks. However, it has remained unclear if microstimulation can facilitate quick, flexible adjustments during learning. Here, we present the development and application of a gaze-contingent stimulation protocol targeting the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the anterior striatum (aSTR), areas implicated to support fast learning of rewarded stimuli and attentional control, in the frontal-striatal network. The protocol is designed to achieve pro-cognitive neuromodulation during adaptive goal-directed behavior. Furthermore, we investigate the role of oscillatory burst events in mediating cognitive flexibility and assess the feasibility of using transient periods with oscillatory bursting events to improve behavioral performance. These methods hold clinical significance as such techniques could provide critical insights in establishing stimulation parameters for brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) that hold promise to be versatile treatment tools for subjects with neuropsychiatric disorders suffering from reduced cognitive flexibility including Parkinson’s disease, severe major depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. This research aims to make a transformative contribution to our understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying cognitive flexibility. In conclusion, this thesis provides fundamental insights to our understanding how neuromodulation of the frontal-striatal network affects cognitive flexibility.
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Keywords
neuromodulation, cognitive flexibility, microstimulation, motivation, reinforcement learning