TY - JOUR
T1 - Gamma tACS over the temporal lobe increases the occurrence of Eureka! moments
AU - Santarnecchi, Emiliano
AU - Sprugnoli, Giulia
AU - Bricolo, Emanuela
AU - Costantini, Giulio
AU - Liew, Sook-Lei
AU - Musaeus, Christian S
AU - Salvi, Carola
AU - Pascual-Leone, Alvaro
AU - Rossi, Alessandro
AU - Rossi, Simone
PY - 2019/12/1
Y1 - 2019/12/1
N2 - The solution to a problem might manifest itself as a burst of unexpected, unpredictable clarity. Such Eureka! events, or Insight moments, are among the most fascinating mysteries of human cognition, whose neurophysiological substrate seems to include a role for oscillatory activity within the α and γ bands in the right parietal and temporal brain regions. We tested this hypothesis on thirty-one healthy participants using transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (tACS) to externally amplify α (10 Hz) and γ (40 Hz) activity in the right parietal and temporal lobes, respectively. During γ-tACS over the right temporal lobe, we observed an increase in accuracy on a verbal insight task. Furthermore, electroencephalography (EEG) data revealed an increase in γ spectral power over bilateral temporal lobes after stimulation. Additionally, resting-state functional MRI data acquired before the stimulation session suggested a correlation between behavioral response to right temporal lobe tACS and functional connectivity of bilateral temporal lobes, in line with the bilateral increase in γ band revealed by EEG. Overall, results suggest the possibility of enhancing the probability of generating Eureka! moments in humans by means of frequency-specific noninvasive brain stimulation.
AB - The solution to a problem might manifest itself as a burst of unexpected, unpredictable clarity. Such Eureka! events, or Insight moments, are among the most fascinating mysteries of human cognition, whose neurophysiological substrate seems to include a role for oscillatory activity within the α and γ bands in the right parietal and temporal brain regions. We tested this hypothesis on thirty-one healthy participants using transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (tACS) to externally amplify α (10 Hz) and γ (40 Hz) activity in the right parietal and temporal lobes, respectively. During γ-tACS over the right temporal lobe, we observed an increase in accuracy on a verbal insight task. Furthermore, electroencephalography (EEG) data revealed an increase in γ spectral power over bilateral temporal lobes after stimulation. Additionally, resting-state functional MRI data acquired before the stimulation session suggested a correlation between behavioral response to right temporal lobe tACS and functional connectivity of bilateral temporal lobes, in line with the bilateral increase in γ band revealed by EEG. Overall, results suggest the possibility of enhancing the probability of generating Eureka! moments in humans by means of frequency-specific noninvasive brain stimulation.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85064088041&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41598-019-42192-z
DO - 10.1038/s41598-019-42192-z
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 30962465
SN - 2045-2322
VL - 9
SP - 5778
JO - Scientific Reports
JF - Scientific Reports
IS - 1
M1 - 5778
ER -