Abstract:
The following work constitutes the result of my Ph.D. project, carried out at the Division of Functional and Restorative Neurosurgery of the University of Tübingen. The work I have done is documented in three manuscripts I have completed during this period of time. The project focused on validating the ability of transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) to entrain beta sensorimotor rhythms. In the introduction, I will provide the background necessary to understand the impact of my work and the scientific questions that drove my research. I will thus describe the framework proposed to explain the functional role of brain oscillations and the research tools necessary to test its predictions. I will talk about tACS, and the putative mechanisms of interaction with these brain rhythms. Finally, I will describe the evidences of entrainment on sensory and motor systems. I will try to make my point that true evidence of entrainment is still sparse, and in the context of the motor system, insufficient. Thus, I will describe the three studies that composed my work, explaining how they are connected and how they contribute to the final goal. I will then conclude this work by including the three manuscripts I have produced with the support of my supervisor and other members of the team, as evidence of the work I have accomplished during my Ph.D.