scholarly journals Integrating electric field modelling and neuroimaging to explain inter-individual variability of tACS effects

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian H. Kasten ◽  
Katharina Duecker ◽  
Marike C. Maack ◽  
Arnd Meiser ◽  
Christoph S. Herrmann

AbstractUnderstanding variability of transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) effects is one of the major challenges in the brain stimulation community. Promising candidates to explain this variability are individual anatomy and the resulting differences of electric fields inside the brain. We integrated individual simulations of electric fields during tES with source-localization to predict variability of transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) aftereffects on α-oscillations. In two experiments, participants received 20 minutes of either α-tACS (1 mA) or sham stimulation. Magnetoencephalogram was recorded for 10 minutes before and after stimulation. tACS caused a larger power increase in the α-band as compared to sham. The variability of this effect was significantly predicted by measures derived from individual electric field modelling. Our results directly link electric field variability to variability of tACS outcomes, stressing the importance of individualizing stimulation protocols and providing a novel approach to analyze tACS effects in terms of dose-response relationships.

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian H. Kasten ◽  
Katharina Duecker ◽  
Marike C. Maack ◽  
Arnd Meiser ◽  
Christoph S. Herrmann

AbstractTranscranial electrical stimulation (tES) of the brain can have variable effects, plausibly driven by individual differences in neuroanatomy and resulting differences of the electric fields inside the brain. Here, we integrated individual simulations of electric fields during tES with source localization to predict variability of transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) aftereffects on α-oscillations. In two experiments, participants received 20-min of either α-tACS (1 mA) or sham stimulation. Magnetoencephalogram (MEG) was recorded for 10-min before and after stimulation. tACS caused a larger power increase in the α-band compared to sham. The variability of this effect was significantly predicted by measures derived from individual electric field modeling. Our results directly link electric field variability to variability of tACS outcomes, underline the importance of individualizing stimulation protocols, and provide a novel approach to analyze tACS effects in terms of dose-response relationships.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guilherme B. Saturnino ◽  
Oula Puonti ◽  
Jesper D Nielsen ◽  
Daria Antonenko ◽  
Kristoffer Hougaard H Madsen ◽  
...  

Numerical simulation of the electric fields induced by Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation (NIBS), using realistic anatomical head models has gained interest in recent years for understanding the NIBS effects in individual subjects. Although automated tools for generating the head models and performing the electric field simulations have become available, individualized modelling is still not standard practice in NIBS studies. This is likely partly explained by the lack of robustness and usability of the previously available software tools, and partly by the still developing understanding of the link between physiological effects and electric field distributions in the brain. To facilitate individualized modelling in NIBS, we have introduced the SimNIBS (Simulation of NIBS) software package, providing easy-to-use automated tools for electric field modelling. In this article, we give an overview of the modelling pipeline in SimNIBS 2.1, with step-by-step examples of how to run a simulation. Furthermore, we demonstrate a set of scripts for extracting average electric fields for a group of subjects, and finally demonstrate the accuracy of automated placement of standard electrode montages on the head model. SimNIBS 2.1 is freely available at www.simnibs.org.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ehsan Negahbani ◽  
Iain M. Stitt ◽  
Marshall Davey ◽  
Thien T. Doan ◽  
Moritz Dannhauer ◽  
...  

SummaryModeling studies predict that transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) entrains brain oscillations, yet direct examination has been lacking or potentially contaminated by stimulation artefact. Here we first demonstrate how the posterior parietal cortex drives primary visual cortex and thalamic LP in the alpha-band in head-fixed awake ferrets. The spike-field synchrony is maximum within alpha frequency, and more prominent for narrow-spiking neurons than broad-spiking ones. Guided by a validated model of electric field distribution, we produced electric fields comparable to those in humans and primates (< 0.5 mV/mm). We found evidence to support the model-driven predictions of how tACS entrains neural oscillations as explained by the triangular Arnold tongue pattern. In agreement with the stronger spike-field coupling of narrow-spiking cells, tACS more strongly entrained this cell population. Our findings provide the firstin vivoevidence of how tACS with electric field amplitudes used in human studies entrains neuronal oscillators.


2020 ◽  
Vol 123 (1) ◽  
pp. 428-438 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kohitij Kar ◽  
Takuya Ito ◽  
Michael W. Cole ◽  
Bart Krekelberg

Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) is used as a noninvasive tool for cognitive enhancement and clinical applications. The physiological effects of tACS, however, are complex and poorly understood. Most studies of tACS focus on its ability to entrain brain oscillations, but our behavioral results in humans and extracellular recordings in nonhuman primates support the view that tACS at 10 Hz also affects brain function by reducing sensory adaptation. Our primary goal in the present study is to test this hypothesis using blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) imaging in human subjects. Using concurrent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and tACS, and a motion adaptation paradigm developed to quantify BOLD adaptation, we show that tACS significantly attenuates adaptation in the human motion area (hMT+). In addition, an exploratory analysis shows that tACS increases functional connectivity of the stimulated hMT+ with the rest of the brain and the dorsal attention network in particular. Based on field estimates from individualized head models, we relate these changes to the strength of tACS-induced electric fields. Specifically, we report that functional connectivity (between hMT+ and any other region of interest) increases in proportion to the field strength in the region of interest. These findings add support for the claim that weak 10-Hz currents applied to the scalp modulate both local and global measures of brain activity. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Concurrent transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) and functional MRI show that tACS affects the human brain by attenuating adaptation and increasing functional connectivity in a dose-dependent manner. This work is important for our basic understanding of what tACS does, but also for therapeutic applications, which need insight into the full range of ways in which tACS affects the brain.


2014 ◽  
Vol 554 ◽  
pp. 588-592 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Mohammad Dastgheib ◽  
Zolkafle Buntat ◽  
Muhammad Abu Bakar Sidik

The application of high voltage electric field for preservation of fruit juices has a promising scope in the food industry. The pulsed electric field (PEF) is an innovative non- thermal technique and free from bio-toxic effects. The technique has a viable solution of the problem yet faced in the food industry to prolong life and preserve and maintain quality with natural properties of the liquid food and beverages. In this study, we have treated the pineapples juice samples by different strengths of pulsed electric field such as 10, 20 and 30kV/cm for 5 minutes in each test. This study used new design of helix treatment chamber with three different lengths of 20, 30and 50cm. In these experiments, all samples were kept in same and normal condition with a temperature around 25-26 andthe humidity was between 55 and 65%. Then the observation based on chemical tests such as pH, conductivity, salinity and total dissolved solids (TDS) was recorded for all samples before and after the test. Based on results obtained by chemical parameters suggest that the injection on pulsed electric field of 30 kV/cm by the 50 cm treatment chamber has the best effect on pineapple juices characteristic as compared to the other value. The result of this experiment is encouraging and supportive of the better way for pasteurization the pineapple juices and increasing longevity of pineapple juices.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Serena Fiocchi ◽  
Michela Longhi ◽  
Paolo Ravazzani ◽  
Yiftach Roth ◽  
Abraham Zangen ◽  
...  

In the last few years, deep transcranial magnetic stimulation (dTMS) has been used for the treatment of depressive disorders, which affect a broad category of people, from adolescents to aging people. To facilitate its clinical application, particular shapes of coils, including the so-called Hesed coils, were designed. Given their increasing demand and the lack of studies which accurately characterize their use, this paper aims to provide a picture of the distribution of the induced electric field in four realistic human models of different ages and gender. In detail, the electric field distributions were calculated by using numerical techniques in the brain structures potentially involved in the progression of the disease and were quantified in terms of both amplitude levels and focusing power of the distribution. The results highlight how the chosen Hesed coil (H7 coil) is able to induce the maxima levels ofEmainly in the prefrontal cortex, particularly for the younger model. Moreover, growing levels of induced electric fields with age were found by going in deep in the brain, as well as a major capability to penetrate in the deepest brain structures with an electric field higher than 50%, 70%, and 90% of the peak found in the cortex.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elina Zmeykina ◽  
Matthias Mittner ◽  
Walter Paulus ◽  
Zsolt Turi

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a potent tool for modulating endogenous oscillations in humans. The current standard dosing method for rTMS defines the electric field strength only indirectly. A better characterization of the electric field strength induced by a given rTMS protocol is necessary in order to improve the understanding of the neural mechanisms of rTMS. In this study we used a novel approach, in which individualized prospective computational modeling of the induced electric field guided the choice of stimulation intensity. We consistently found that rhythmic rTMS protocols increased neural synchronization in the posterior alpha frequency band when measured simultaneously with scalp electroencephalography. We observed this effect already at electric field strengths of roughly half the lowest conventional dose, which is 80% of the resting motor threshold. We conclude that rTMS can induce immediate electrophysiological effects at much weaker electric field strengths than previously thought.


Sensors ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siddharth Kohli ◽  
Alexander J. Casson

Transcranial electrical stimulation is a widely used non-invasive brain stimulation approach. To date, EEG has been used to evaluate the effect of transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) and transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (tACS), but most studies have been limited to exploring changes in EEG before and after stimulation due to the presence of stimulation artifacts in the EEG data. This paper presents two different algorithms for removing the gross tACS artifact from simultaneous EEG recordings. These give different trade-offs in removal performance, in the amount of data required, and in their suitability for closed loop systems. Superposition of Moving Averages and Adaptive Filtering techniques are investigated, with significant emphasis on verification. We present head phantom testing results for controlled analysis, together with on-person EEG recordings in the time domain, frequency domain, and Event Related Potential (ERP) domain. The results show that EEG during tACS can be recovered free of large scale stimulation artifacts. Previous studies have not quantified the performance of the tACS artifact removal procedures, instead focusing on the removal of second order artifacts such as respiration related oscillations. We focus on the unresolved challenge of removing the first order stimulation artifact, presented with a new multi-stage validation strategy.


2020 ◽  
Vol 91 (8) ◽  
pp. e6.3-e7
Author(s):  
Nir Grossman

Nir is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) at Imperial College London and a founding fellow of the UK Dementia Research Institute (UK-DRI). The long-term goal of his research is to develop neuromodulatory interventions for neurodegenerative diseases by direct modulation of the underlying aberrant network activity. Nir received a BSc in Physics from the Israeli Institute of Technology (Technion), an MSc in Electromagnetic Engineering from the Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg, and a PhD in Neuroscience from Imperial College London. He then completed a postdoc training, as a Wellcome Trust Fellow, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University. Nir was recently awarded the prestige prize for Neuromodulation from the Science magazine for describing how temporal interfering of kHz electric fields can non-invasively stimulate focal neural structures deep in the brain.Electrical brain stimulation is a key technique in research and clinical neuroscience studies, and also is in increasingly widespread use from a therapeutic standpoint. However, to date all methods of electrical stimulation of the brain either require surgery to implant an electrode at a defined site, or involve the application of non-focal electric fields to large fractions of the brain. We report a noninvasive strategy for electrically stimulating neurons at depth. By delivering to the brain multiple electric fields at frequencies too high to recruit neural firing, but which differ by a frequency within the dynamic range of neural firing, we can electrically stimulate neurons throughout a region where interference between the multiple fields results in a prominent electric field envelope modulated at the difference frequency. We validated this temporal interference (TI) concept via modeling and physics experiments, and verified that neurons in the living mouse brain could follow the electric field envelope. We demonstrate the utility of TI stimulation by stimulating neurons in the hippocampus of living mice without recruiting neurons of the overlying cortex. Finally, we show that by altering the currents delivered to a set of immobile electrodes, we can steerably evoke different motor patterns in living mice.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 2684
Author(s):  
Justina Jurgelevičiūtė ◽  
Nedas Bičkovas ◽  
Andrius Sakalauskas ◽  
Vitalij Novickij ◽  
Vytautas Smirnovas ◽  
...  

Prions are misfolded, self-replicating, and transmissible proteins capable of causing different conditions that affect the brain and nervous system in humans and animals. Yeasts are the perfect model to study prion formation, dissemination, and the structure of protein aggregates. Yeast prions are related to stress resistance, cell fitness, and viability. Applying a pulsed electric field (PEF) as a factor capable of disintegrating the amyloid aggregates arises from the fact that the amyloid aggregates form via noncovalent bonds and stabilize via electrostatic interactions. In this research, we applied 2–26 kV/cm PEF delivered in sequences of 5 pulses of 1 ms duration to the Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell without prions and containing strong and weak variants of the [PSI+] prion (prion form of Sup35 translation termination factor). We determined that prions significantly increase cell survivability and resistance to PEF treatment. The application of PEF to the purified Sup35NM fibrils showed that the electric field causes significant reductions in the length of fibrils and the full disintegration of fibrils to Sup35 oligomers can be achieved in higher fields.


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