Individualised rhythmic transcranial magnetic stimulation differentially entrains alpha oscillators in older and younger adults during listening

Age-related changes in hearing and cognition affect how the brain adapts to perceptual challenge. Alpha-band oscillatory activity may be functionally important for adaptive listening, but whether these oscillations can be causally and selectively modulated in the ageing brain is unknown. Here, for the first time, we combine individualised alpha-frequency transcranial magnetic stimulation (alpha-TMS) with electrophysiological and behavioural measures to test state-dependent entrainment of auditory and parietal alpha oscillators during listening. Younger and older adults completed an irrelevant speech paradigm, during which they received alpha-TMS to task-relevant brain regions. Data show that individualised alpha-TMS preferentially entrains alpha oscillations in auditory cortex in older, but not younger, listeners. In contrast, alpha entrainment in parietal cortex relates to hearing sensitivity and listening performance. These findings provide the first evidence for individualised, state-dependent entrainment of auditory alpha oscillations during listening, and demonstrate age- and sensory-related effects on the modulation of neural rhythms for perception.