Intermittent theta-burst stimulation of the lateral cerebellum increases functional connectivity of the default network

Abstract

Cerebral cortical intrinsic connectivity networks share topographically arranged functional connectivity with the cerebellum. However, the contribution of cerebellar nodes to distributed network organization and function remains poorly understood. In humans,weapplied theta-burst transcranial magnetic stimulation, guided by subject-specific connectivity, to regions of the cerebellum to evaluate the functional relevance of connections between cerebellar and cerebral cortical nodes in different networks. We demonstrate that changing activity in the human lateral cerebellar Crus I/II modulates the cerebral default mode network, whereas vermal lobule VII stimulation influences the cerebral dorsal attention system. These results provide novel insights into the distributed, but anatomically specific, modulatory impact of cerebellar effects on large-scale neural network function. © 2014 the authors.