Augmentation of Brain Function: Facts, Fiction and Controversy: Volume II: Neurostimulation and Pharmacological Approaches

Ioan Opris, Manuel F. Casanova, Mikhail Lebedev

Frontiers Media SA, Sep 14, 2018 - Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry - 403 pages

 The Volume II is entitled “Neurostimulation and pharmacological approaches”. This volume describes augmentation approaches, where improvements in brain functions are achieved by modulation of brain circuits with electrical or optical stimulation, or pharmacological agents. Activation of brain circuits with electrical currents is a conventional approach that includes such methods as (i) intracortical microstimulation (ICMS), (ii) transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), and (iii) transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). tDCS and TMS are often regarded as noninvasive methods. Yet, they may induce long-lasting plastic changes in the brain. This is why some authors consider the term “noninvasive” misleading when used to describe these and other techniques, such as stimulation with transcranial lasers. The volume further discusses the potential of neurostimulation as a research tool in the studies of perception, cognition and behavior. Additionally, a notion is expressed that brain augmentation with stimulation cannot be described as a net zero sum proposition, where brain resources are reallocated in such a way that gains in one function are balanced by costs elsewhere. In recent years, optogenetic methods have received an increased attention, and several articles in Volume II cover different aspects of this technique. While new optogenetic methods are being developed, the classical electrical stimulation has already been utilized in many clinically relevant applications, like the vestibular implant and tactile neuroprosthesis that utilizes ICMS. As a peculiar usage of neurostimulation and pharmacological methods, Volume II includes several articles on augmented memory. Memory prostheses are a popular recent development in the stimulation-based BMIs. For example, in a hippocampal memory prosthesis, memory content is extracted from hippocampal activity using a multiple-input, multiple-output non-linear dynamical model. As to the pharmacological approaches to augmenting memory and cognition, the pros and cons of using nootropic drugs are discussed.

Contents

• A practical application of text mining to literature on cognitive rehabilitation and enhancement through neurostimulation: 7
• Functional Electrical Stimulation Alters the Postural Component of Locomotor Activity in Healthy Humans: 21
• the relevance of individual differences in responsiveness to transcranial electrical stimulation: 28
• five important issues we arent discussing but probably should be: 40
• expanding vistas for neurocognitive augmentation: 48
• a causal role for the anterior intraparietal sulcus: 62
• Activation and inhibition of posterior parietal cortex have bidirectional effects on spatial errors following interruptions: 71
• Weighing the Cost and Benefit of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Different Reading Subskills: 79
• promise of combining brain stimulation and brain connectome: 88
• Hypothesisdriven methods to augment human cognition by optimizing cortical oscillations: 103
• How to Combine Brain Stimulation Rehabilitative Training for Functional Recovery?: 124
• A Framework for Combining rTMS with Behavioral Therapy: 132
• Noninvasive brain stimulation is not noninvasive: 140
• Biasing neural network dynamics using noninvasive brain stimulation: 144
• Direct electric stimulation to increase cerebrovascular function: 149
• challenges for brainstate dependent tDCS: 154
• Augmentation of cognitive brain functions with transcranial lasers: 161
• Thinking caps for everyone? The role of neuroenhancement by noninvasive brain stimulation in neuroscience and beyond: 165
• Neuroenhancement by noninvasive brain stimulation is not a net zerosum proposition: 169
• Design fabrication and packaging of an integrated wirelesslypowered optrode array for optogenetics application: 172
• Prospects for Optogenetic Augmentation of Brain Function: 184
• frequencydependency of the electrically evoked vestibuloocular reflex in humans: 193
• Sensitivity to microstimulation of somatosensory cortex distributed over multiple electrodes: 205
• a survey of the approaches to remembering more: 212
• from clinical research to animal models: 217
• How to build better memory training games: 226
• a Monte Carlo simulation: 233
• Superior memorizers employ different neural networks for encoding and recall: 237
• Working memory training improves emotional states of healthy individuals: 247
• Adaptation to elastic loads and BMI robot controls during rat locomotion examined with pointprocess GLMs: 261
• Pharmacological enhancement of memory or cognition in normal subjects: 272
• evidence from normal and clinical populations: 290
• Changes in cerebellar activity and interhemispheric coherence accompany improved reading performance following Quadrato Motor Training: 297
• Increased intelligence is a myth so far: 309
• behavioural and neural evidence: 312
• Robust sequential working memory recall in heterogeneous cognitive networks: 321
• neural ramifications of nootropic drugs in the healthy developing brain: 332
• Attitudes toward pharmacological cognitive enhancementa review: 342
• A survey of substance use for cognitive enhancement by university students in the Netherlands: 356
• why and when healthy individuals should disclose their reliance on pharmaceutical cognitive enhancers: 367
• Screening and personalizing nootropic drugs and cognitive modulator regimens in silico: 372
• Effects of nonpharmacological or pharmacological interventions on cognition and brain plasticity of aging individuals: 378
• Boosting visual cortex function and plasticity with acetylcholine to enhance visual perception: 388
• Back Cover: 402

Bibliographic information

• Title: Augmentation of Brain Function: Facts, Fiction and Controversy: Volume II: Neurostimulation and Pharmacological Approaches; Frontiers Research Topics
• Editors: Ioan Opris, Manuel F. Casanova, Mikhail Lebedev
• Publisher: Frontiers Media SA, 2018
• ISBN: 2889456153, 9782889456154
• Length: 403 pages