T1-weighted structural images were collected using a Philips Achieva 3.0T scanner, using an MPRAGE sequence (1x1 x 1 mm3 voxel resolution, 240x240 x 200 grid, TR = 7 \ms, TE = 3.2ms, flip angle = 8°). Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was performed to explore associations between differences in local grey matter volume (GM) and the impact of TMS on the distractor effect. Structural MRI data were analysed using the FSL-VBM protocol (Douaud et al., 2007 (link); Good et al., 2001 (link); Smith et al., 2004 (link)). Each participant’s scan was brain-extracted, grey matter-segmented, and nonlinearly registered to the MNI 152 standard space (Andersson et al., 2007 (link)). The resulting images were averaged to create a study specific grey matter template. Native grey matter images were then nonlinearly registered to this template and modulated to correct for local expansion/contraction due to the non-linear component of the spatial transformation. The modulated images were then smoothed with an isotropic Gaussian kernel (sigma = 3 mm), and a voxelwise GLM was applied using permutation-based nonparametric testing (5000 permutations). Correction for multiple comparisons across space was performed using threshold free cluster enhancement (TFCE).
Since we set out to explore the effect of TMS, we restricted the analysis to the regions in which we applied TMS, that is the left MIP as well as the left MT as a control region. A region of interest (ROI) analysis was chosen because (1) we tested the effect of TMS and our hypotheses were therefore focused on the specific TMS sites used, and (2) all participants were sampled from a neurotypical population, suggesting that any structural differences associated with decision-making would be small. The region of interest covered large areas of the left parietal and occipital grey matter regions, and was defined as the left superior parietal lobule, the left angular gyrus, and the left inferior lateral occipital cortex, as defined by the Harvard-Oxford Cortical Structural Atlas (see also Figure 2—figure supplement 2).
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