Home › Neuroscience › Continuous Theta Burst Stimulation of the Posterior Medial Frontal Cortex to Experimentally Reduce Ideological Threat Responses
Neuroscience JoVE (Open Access) Citable · DOI

Continuous Theta Burst Stimulation of the Posterior Medial Frontal Cortex to Experimentally Reduce Ideological Threat Responses

DOI: 10.3791/58204-v
What you'll learn
  • ✓ Apply continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) to the posterior medial frontal cortex in human participants
  • ✓ Administer ideological threat assessment surveys and measure shifts in ideological investment
  • ✓ Interpret neuroimaging data linking brain stimulation to threat-related cognitive responses
Protocol

Threats reliably evoke shifts in high-level ideological investment, but little work to date has explored the neural mechanisms underlying these dynamics. This paper describes how continuous theta burst transcranial magnetic stimulation may be employed to test the contribution of the posterior medial frontal cortex (and/or other regions) to threat-related ideological shifts.

Difficulty
advanced
Total time
~1.5–2 hours per participant (includes cTBS setup, localization, stimulation, and survey completion)

Steps

1
Perform continuous theta burst stimulation setup

Configure transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) equipment and establish neuronavigation targeting of the posterior medial frontal cortex. Apply cTBS protocol parameters to modulate neural activity in the target region.

▶ 00:34
2
Administer ideological threat survey tasks

Present participants with survey instruments designed to measure ideological investment and threat responses. Collect quantitative responses before and after stimulation to assess changes in threat-related cognition.

▶ 03:08
3
Analyze cTBS effects on ideological responses

Quantify shifts in ideological threat responses following posterior medial frontal cortex stimulation. Compare survey scores and identify statistical effects of stimulation on threat-related ideological shifts.

▶ 05:28
4
Interpret neural mechanisms of threat responses

Synthesize findings to explain how posterior medial frontal cortex contributes to ideological investment during threat states. Discuss implications for understanding the neurobiology of ideological cognition.

▶ 05:58
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