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Elevating cerebellar theta oscillations boosts noninvasively induced motor plasticity.

Overview

Authors: Danny Adrian Spampinato1,2, Valentina Pezzopane1,3,4, Alex Martino Cinnera1, Annibale Antonioni3,4,5, Elisa Dolfini4, Lucia Mencarelli1, Matteo Ferraresi1, Katia Botta3,4, Andrea Casarotto3, Sofia Straudi4,6, Luciano Fadiga3,4, Giacomo Koch1,3,4
ORCID iDs: Danny Adrian Spampinato, Alex Martino Cinnera, Annibale Antonioni, Elisa Dolfini, Lucia Mencarelli, Matteo Ferraresi, Andrea Casarotto, Sofia Straudi, Luciano Fadiga, Giacomo Koch
  1. Laboratory of Experimental Neuropsychophysiology, Scientific Institute for Research, Hospitalisation and Health Care IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome 00179, Italy
  2. Saint Camillus International University of Health and Medical Sciences (UniCamillus), Rome 00131, Italy
  3. Center for Translational Neurophysiology of Speech and Communication, Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), Ferrara 44121, Italy
  4. Department of Neuroscience and Rehabilitation, University of Ferrara, Ferrara 44121, Italy
  5. Doctoral Program in Translational Neurosciences and Neurotechnologies, Department of Neuroscience and Rehabilitation, University of Ferrara, Ferrara 44121, Italy
  6. Department of Neuroscience, Ferrara University Hospital, Ferrara 44124, Italy
Institutions: Saint Camillus International University of Health and Medical Sciences (Italy); Fondazione Santa Lucia (Italy); Istituti di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (Italy); University of Ferrara (Italy); Italian Institute of Technology (Italy); Center for Translational Neurophysiology of Speech and Communication (Italy)
Journal: Science advances, volume 12, issue 31, article eaeb3579
Dates: received 10 August 2025; accepted 23 June 2026; published online 31 July 2026; in print July 2026
Type: Research article · Language: English
License: CC BY-NC
Identifiers: DOI 10.1126/sciadv.aeb3579 · PMID 42536760 · PMCID PMC13426455 · OpenAlex W7171967603
Open access: gold, a free copy (OpenAlex)
Status: data only
Categories: other (modality), human (organism), stroke (population), systems (subfield)
Methods: Spectral & time-frequency, Statistics, Connectivity, Single-unit activity, calcium imaging, Physiology & signal measures
MeSH: Cerebellum*, Neuronal Plasticity*, Theta Rhythm*, Adult, Female, Humans, Male, Motor Cortex, Stroke, Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation, Young Adult (* major topic)
Journal subjects: Neuroscience, Neurophysiology
Topic: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Studies (Neurology, Neuroscience), according to OpenAlex
Funding: Ministry of Health (Ricerca Corrente 2025); Ministry of University and Research ((grant number: SOE-0000123) “NICE-MBS, Non-Invasive Cerebellar Stimulation To Enhance Motor Behaviour After Stroke”)
Citations: cited by 1 paper (Europe PMC); 48 references in the paper

Abstract

Matching brain stimulation to the brain’s natural rhythms can drive plasticity, yet this principle has rarely been tested in humans. We targeted the cerebellum, a key hub for motor coordination and learning, using a rhythm-tuned protocol that pairs theta-frequency transcranial alternating current stimulation with intermittent theta-burst stimulation to engage plasticity of cerebello-cortical circuits. In young healthy adults, this pairing enhanced fine motor control and hand dexterity, with gains closely tracking physiological markers of cerebellar-driven plasticity. Applying the same approach in chronic stroke survivors yielded parallel behavioral and neural gains, demonstrating preserved rhythm-plasticity coupling despite injury. Control experiments confirmed both frequency specificity and site specificity, underscoring the mechanistic precision of the intervention. By linking theta-frequency cerebellar stimulation to circuit-level and functional outcomes, these findings establish a biologically grounded framework for targeted neurorehabilitation. Rhythm-specific cerebellar stimulation provides a scalable strategy for enhancing plasticity and improving motor function across movement disorders and motor impairments.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY-NC), from the paper cited above.

Code

The paper links to its data, not to its authors' code: see the Data section.

The paper's code and data availability statement is in the Data section.

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Data

Datasets cited

Data, code, and materials availability

All data and code needed to evaluate and reproduce the results in the paper are present in the paper and/or the Supplemental Materials. Data supporting the findings of this study are publicly available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18155593. This study did not generate new materials. No materials were generated by this research that require distribution by the authors.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY-NC), from the paper cited above.

Versions

The history of this record: each version stored by the harvester or made by a correction of its authors or of the maintainers of its code, and what changed in its facts. The texts of the paper (its abstract, its availability statements) are not part of it; versions that changed only those are not listed.

Version 1, 27 September 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 12 authors, 11 MeSH terms, 2 funders, 47 references.

Cite

This paper

Spampinato, D. A., Pezzopane, V., Martino Cinnera, A., Antonioni, A., Dolfini, E., Mencarelli, L., Ferraresi, M., Botta, K., Casarotto, A., Straudi, S., Fadiga, L., & Koch, G. (2026). Elevating cerebellar theta oscillations boosts noninvasively induced motor plasticity. Science advances, 12(31), eaeb3579. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aeb3579

BibTeX

@article{spampinato2026elevating,
author = {Spampinato, Danny Adrian and Pezzopane, Valentina and Martino Cinnera, Alex and Antonioni, Annibale and Dolfini, Elisa and Mencarelli, Lucia and Ferraresi, Matteo and Botta, Katia and Casarotto, Andrea and Straudi, Sofia and Fadiga, Luciano and Koch, Giacomo},
title = {{Elevating cerebellar theta oscillations boosts noninvasively induced motor plasticity}},
journal = {Science advances},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
volume = {12},
number = {31},
pages = {eaeb3579},
publisher = {American Association for the Advancement of Science},
issn = {2375-2548},
doi = {10.1126/sciadv.aeb3579},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aeb3579},
pmid = {42536760},
pmcid = {PMC13426455}
}

RIS

TY - JOUR
AU - Spampinato, Danny Adrian
AU - Pezzopane, Valentina
AU - Martino Cinnera, Alex
AU - Antonioni, Annibale
AU - Dolfini, Elisa
AU - Mencarelli, Lucia
AU - Ferraresi, Matteo
AU - Botta, Katia
AU - Casarotto, Andrea
AU - Straudi, Sofia
AU - Fadiga, Luciano
AU - Koch, Giacomo
TI - Elevating cerebellar theta oscillations boosts noninvasively induced motor plasticity
T2 - Science advances
J2 - Sci Adv
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/31
VL - 12
IS - 31
SP - eaeb3579
SN - 2375-2548
PB - American Association for the Advancement of Science
DO - 10.1126/sciadv.aeb3579
UR - https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aeb3579
LA - en
ER -

CSL-JSON

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