Personalized whole-brain activity patterns predict human corticospinal tract activation in real-time

Background: Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) interventions could feasibly treat stroke-related motor impairments, but their effects are highly variable. Brain state-dependent TMS approaches are a promising solution to this problem, but inter-individual variation in lesion location and oscilla...

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Main Authors: Uttara U. Khatri, Kristen Pulliam, Muskan Manesiya, Melanie Vieyra Cortez, José del R. Millán, Sara J. Hussain
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-01-01
Series:Brain Stimulation
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1935861X24013925
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Summary:Background: Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) interventions could feasibly treat stroke-related motor impairments, but their effects are highly variable. Brain state-dependent TMS approaches are a promising solution to this problem, but inter-individual variation in lesion location and oscillatory dynamics can make translating them to the poststroke brain challenging. Personalized brain state-dependent approaches specifically designed to address these challenges are needed. Methods: As a first step towards this goal, we tested a novel machine learning-based EEG-TMS system that identifies personalized brain activity patterns reflecting strong and weak corticospinal tract (CST) activation (strong and weak CST states) in healthy adults in real-time. Participants completed a single-session study that included the acquisition of a TMS-EEG-EMG training dataset, personalized classifier training, and real-time EEG-informed single-pulse TMS during classifier-predicted personalized CST states. Results: MEP amplitudes elicited in real-time during classifier-predicted personalized strong CST states were significantly larger than those elicited during corresponding weak and random CST states. MEP amplitudes elicited in real-time during classifier-predicted personalized strong CST states were also significantly less variable than those elicited during corresponding weak CST states. Personalized CST states lasted for ∼1–2 s at a time and ∼1 s elapsed between consecutive similar states. Individual participants exhibited unique differences in spectro-spatial EEG patterns between classifier-predicted personalized strong and weak CST states. Conclusion: Our results show for the first time that personalized whole-brain EEG activity patterns predict CST activation in real-time in healthy humans. These findings represent a pivotal step towards using personalized brain state-dependent TMS interventions to promote poststroke CST function.
ISSN:1935-861X