Proactive Brain State Regulation: a closed-loop brain-state dependent stimulation approach

Project Information

Ctrl Code

Grant agreement ID: 794649

DOI

10.3030/794649

Project closed

EC signature date 23 March 2018

Start date 7 January 2019

End date 9 May 2021

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 183 454,80

EU contribution

€ 183 454,80

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW
United Kingdom

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Ctrl Code (Proactive Brain State Regulation: a closed-loop brain-state dependent stimulation approach)

Reporting period: 2019-01-07 to 2021-01-06

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Human behaviour is highly flexible. Cognitive control is the basis of this flexibility. Imagine reading a book in the park and not being able to focus on the novel because constantly disturbed by irrelevant sounds (children playing) or internal thoughts (did I switch the light off?). Reading a book seems an easy task, in which, however, we often fail! In normal development, ageing or some pathological conditions (like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder–ADHD), this type of self-control can be highly challenging, seriously impacting daily life. Now, imagine having an external device capable of decoding your brain activity in real-time and detecting when your attention is deviating from the relevant task (e.g. book reading). Imagine that this device will also help compensate for attention drops by triggering a cascade of processes in the brain so that attention will be focused again. Would this device help you read the book? Or even induce changes in brain networks so that attention will be generally enhanced? This project (Ctrl Code) ventures to put this idea into practice. Thanks to the latest technical advances in analysing brain signals, it is possible to compute brain activity (e.g. brain oscillations) online and read-out 'brain states' in real-time (is attention focused? to follow with the example). We propose a proactive closed-loop brain-state dependent stimulation (cl-BSDS) approach to trigger attention adjustments. We know that after the experience of cognitive conflict (i.e. when competing responses must be overcome), performance is better, which laid the groundwork for theories emphasising the role of cognitive conflict for recruitment of control processes and the importance of coordinated brain network (frontal-parietal) for flexible behaviour. It seems that one of the functions of control (e.g. enhanced attention) is to prevent cognitive conflict, and at the same time, conflict seems to be helpful for the regulation of control. Therefore, cognitive conflict and attention adjustments seem to be parts of a proactive mechanism used by the brain for flexible behaviour. Ctrl Code is articulated in two steps. First, we need to test the specific hypothesis that post-conflict attention adjustments are implemented in a preparatory way from one trial to the next. Second, we design the cl-BSDS, in which cognitive conflict will be used to trigger attention at need in a controlled laboratory setting, with the aim of (a) promoting a virtuous loop of brain states (i.e. self-regulation) and (b) favour human performance. Adopting cl-BSDS in the investigation of cognitive control is critical because it allows capturing one of the essential features of cognitive control, namely its flexibility. Furthermore, Ctrl Code will overcome another substantial limitation of standard treatments for attention boosting (i.e. neuro-feedback): the extensive training the participants must adopt for its effectiveness, which confines the applicability only to responders and negatively impacts research and clinical costs. Finally, Ctrl Code will test hypotheses on the role of brain oscillations in cognitive control by focusing on specific brain waves.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Experiment 1
Post-conflict attention adjustments: A test for proactive mechanisms reflected in frontal-parietal oscillations. Manuela Ruzzoli, Robin A. A. Ince, Antonino Vallesi, Gregor Thut (pre-registration document: https://osf.io/s9zn5/?view_only=4832300a128847a08dd729a2cc2fb70c)

In this experiment, we adopted a modified version of the Attention Network Test (ANT) (Figure 1), in which a spatial cue prompts attention orienting in preparation of a Flanker stimulus. Electrophysiological and behavioural data were collected from 73 participants. The analysis is still in progress. Data and analysis codes will be made public upon publication (check link above).

Experiment 2
In this experiment, we planned to use the data from experiment 1 to train a classifier to detect alpha power (8-12 Hz) imbalance between hemispheres as a signature of attention deployment. The classifier would be used in a cl-BSDS training where cognitive conflict trigger attention at need. The global pandemic in 2020 delayed data collection in experiment 1 and impacted the execution of experiment 2, which could not be realised yet.

Experiment 3
The influence of occipito-parietal alpha phase on motor preparation and visual processing. Domenica Veniero, Alessio Fracasso, Gregor Thut, Manuela Ruzzoli (pre-registration document: https://osf.io/nb5zw/)

As part of a collaboration with members of the University of Glasgow and as side work of the current project, a third experiment was implemented before the pandemic, whose scientific aims are tangential to the current project. Experiment 3 aims at testing the role of the phase of spontaneous oscillatory activity recorded by EEG in relation to subsequent visual, motor, or visuo-motor responses. Electro-physiological, eye movement and behavioural data were collected from 27 participants. The analysis is still in progress. Data and analysis codes will be made public upon publication (check the link above). Experiment 3 entered the project as a mitigation measure.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Ctrl code and the closed-loop, real-time approach provides novel ways to investigate and modulate brain functions along the following dimensions:
1) Scientifically, it constitutes an effective 'reality check' for the functional role of brain oscillations in shaping flexible cognition, possibly generating new testable hypotheses towards a better understanding of the mind-brain relationship.
2) Methodologically, Ctrl code overcomes the standard offline approach in Cognitive Neuroscience and promotes an explanatory framework that exploits spontaneous brain states at time t to favour behaviour at time t+1.
3) Technologically, due to its cross-disciplinary nature, tapping into advanced EEG analysis methods, modern technology (cl-BSDS), and interfacing with cognitive neuroscience (attention and cognitive conflict), Ctrl code will adopt a hypothesis-driven proactive cl-BSDS framework for promoting attention boosting in real-time.
4) Translationally, this offers an original and unique opportunity of translating neuroscience into applications: by reliably reading-out behaviourally relevant brain activity and capitalising on its natural dynamics to promote optimal brain states.
5) Socially and clinically, in contrast to standard approaches which are reactive to past brain states or need extensive training (neuro-feedback), it will probe the feasibility for person-centred solutions towards a new generation of attention boosting applications for cognitive development, ageing or clinical treatment. Ctrl Code will be a proactive system controlled by spontaneous brain dynamics, overcoming other closed-loop approaches which have used simple sounds or task difficulty modulation for attention boosting.

Ctrl Code Summary