Combining NIBS with EEG: What Can It Tell Us About Normal Cognition?

Purpose of Review: Given recent controversies about the limitations of using unnatural experimental contexts and overly reductionist approaches, it is timely to illustrate how combined TMS-EEG can inform the study of normal cognition. Recent Findings: The effect of TMS to visual cortices has been characterized with EEG, and related to specific aspects of normal perceptual cognition. Occipital regions act as one of multiple key trigger nodes in an attentional network that can function to some extent independently of awareness, and with a neural signature dissociable from that recorded after stimulating other nodes. Summary: The neural networks underlying cognition can be studied by comparing the neural and mental effects of stimulating different nodes. TMS pulses trigger a highly specific cascade of neural events and accompanying cognitive processes. This approach enables exploring how component processes aggregate together to give rise to perceptual cognition. The causal-mechanistic approach can provide evidence supporting particular psychological theories. © 2018, Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature.