Subject position affects EEG magnitudes.

EEG (electroencephalography) has been used for decades in thousands of research studies and is today a routine clinical tool despite the small magnitude of measured scalp potentials. It is widely accepted that the currents originating in the brain are strongly influenced by the high resistivity of skull bone, but it is less well known that the thin layer of CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) has perhaps an even more important effect on EEG scalp magnitude by spatially blurring the signals. Here it is shown that brain shift and the resulting small changes in CSF layer thickness, induced by changing the subject's position, have a significant effect on EEG signal magnitudes in several standard visual paradigms. For spatially incoherent high-frequency activity the effect produced by switching from prone to supine can be dramatic, increasing occipital signal power by several times for some subjects (on average 80%). MRI measurements showed that the occipital CSF layer between the brain and skull decreases by approximately 30% in thickness when a subject moves from prone to supine position. A multiple dipole model demonstrated that this can indeed lead to occipital EEG signal power increases in the same direction and order of magnitude as those observed here. These results suggest that future EEG studies should control for subjects' posture, and that some studies may consider placing their subjects into the most favorable position for the experiment. These findings also imply that special consideration should be given to EEG measurements from subjects with brain atrophy due to normal aging or neurodegenerative diseases, since the resulting increase in CSF layer thickness could profoundly decrease scalp potential measurements.

Cysteine dependence of Lactobacillus iners is a potential therapeutic target for vaginal microbiota modulation.

Vaginal microbiota composition affects many facets of reproductive health. Lactobacillus iners-dominated microbial communities are associated with poorer outcomes, including higher risk of bacterial vaginosis (BV), compared with vaginal microbiota rich in L. crispatus. Unfortunately, standard-of-care metronidazole therapy for BV typically results in dominance of L. iners, probably contributing to post-treatment relapse. Here we generate an L. iners isolate collection comprising 34 previously unreported isolates from 14 South African women with and without BV and 4 previously unreported isolates from 3 US women. We also report an associated genome catalogue comprising 1,218 vaginal Lactobacillus isolate genomes and metagenome-assembled genomes from >300 women across 4 continents. We show that, unlike L. crispatus, L. iners growth is dependent on L-cysteine in vitro and we trace this phenotype to the absence of canonical cysteine biosynthesis pathways and a restricted repertoire of cysteine-related transport mechanisms. We further show that cysteine concentrations in cervicovaginal lavage samples correlate with Lactobacillus abundance in vivo and that cystine uptake inhibitors selectively inhibit L. iners growth in vitro. Combining an inhibitor with metronidazole promotes L. crispatus dominance of defined BV-like communities in vitro by suppressing L. iners growth. Our findings enable a better understanding of L. iners biology and suggest candidate treatments to modulate the vaginal microbiota to improve reproductive health for women globally.

A pilot study on effects of 4×1 high-definition tDCS on motor cortex excitability.

High-Definition transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (HD-tDCS) using specialized small electrodes has been proposed as a focal, non-invasive neuromodulatory technique. Here we provide the first evidence of a change in cortical excitability after HD-tDCS of the motor cortex, using TMS motor evoked potential (MEP) as the measure of excitability. Stimulation for 20 minutes at 1 mA with an anode centered over the hand area of the motor cortex and four surrounding return electrodes (anodal 4×1 montage) produced a significant increase in MEP amplitude and variability after stimulation, compared to sham stimulation. Stimulation was well tolerated by all subjects with adverse effects limited to transient sensation under the electrodes. A high-resolution computational model confirmed predictions of increased focality using the 4×1 HD tDCS montage compared to conventional tDCS. Simulations also indicated that variability in placement of the center electrode relative to the location of the target (central sulcus) could account for increasing variability. These results provide support for the careful use of this technique where focal tDCS is desired.