Spatio-temporally specific transcranial magnetic stimulation to test the locus of perceptual decision making in the human brain

Abstract

Previous research modeling EEG, fMRI and behavioral data has identified three spatially distributed brain networks that activate in temporal sequence, and are thought to enable perceptual decision-making during face-versus-car categorization. These studies have linked late activation (>300ms post stimulus onset) in the lateral occipital cortex (LOC) to object discrimination processes. We applied paired-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (ppTMS) to LOC at different temporal latencies with the specific prediction, based on these studies, that ppTMS beginning at 400ms after stimulus onset would slow reaction time (RT) performance. Thirteen healthy adults performed a two-alternative forced choice task selecting whether a car or face was present on each trial amidst visual noise pre-titrated to approximate 79% accuracy. ppTMS, with pulses separated by 50ms, was applied at one of five stimulus onset asynchronies: -200, 200, 400, 450, or 500ms, and a sixth no-stimulation condition. As predicted, TMS at 400ms resulted in significant slowing of RTs, providing causal evidence in support of LOC contribution to perceptual decision processing. In addition, TMS delivered at -200ms resulted in faster RTs, indicating early stimulation may result in performance enhancement. These findings build upon correlational EEG and fMRI observations and demonstrate the use of TMS in predictive validation of psychophysiological models.