Daily paper reading

20180207 Nature Review: Studying and modifying brain function with non-invasive brain stimulation

• Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF):
  
  • A protein encoded by the BDNF gene that is highly relevant for NIBS research
  • BDNF gene polymorphisms have been shown to have an impact on NIBS-induced plasticity
  • BDNF is one of the many factors that should be taken into account when considering potential sources of behavioral and physiological variability in NIBS-induced efects
• Long-term potentiation (LTP): A facilitation of synaptic transmission that is considered to be one of the main mechanisms underlying learning and memory formation.
  
  • long-term depression (LTD): inhibition of synaptic transmission.
  • Longlasting neurophysiological facilitation or inhibition induced
    by NIBS is believed to relate to LTP- or LTD-like changes.
• Stochastic resonance:
  
  • A phenomenon referring to a situation
    in which a signal that is too weak to be detected by a sensor is
    enhanced by adding an optimal level of noise.
  • Recent studies have suggested that tRNS can be used as a tool to investigate the stochastic resonance principle in the human cortex