Behavioural and neurofunctional impact of transcranial direct current stimulation on somatosensory learning

Hilgenstock, Raphael; Weiß, Thomas; Huonker, Ralph; Witte, Otto W.

doi:10.1002/hbm.23101

Cited by 21 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 110 publications

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“…Investigators have attempted to quantify the nature of tDCS effects on physiology using EEG (e.g., (Gall et al, 2015; Reinhart & Woodman, 2015; Reinhart, Zhu, Park, & Woodman, 2015)), fMRI (e.g., (Alekseichuk, Diers, Paulus, & Antal, 2015; Amadi, Ilie, Johansen-Berg, & Stagg, 2013; Antal, Polania, Schmidt-Samoa, Dechent, & Paulus, 2011; Hilgenstock, Weiss, Huonker, & Witte, 2016; Hunter et al, 2015; Spiegel et al, 2013)), and MEG (Garcia-Cossio et al, 2015; Hanley, Singh, & McGonigle, 2015; Marshall, Esterer, Herring, Bergmann, & Jensen, 2015; Soekadar et al, 2013). However, there has been little consensus across studies, especially those with similar task parameters.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transcranial direct-current stimulation modulates offline visual oscillatory activity: A magnetoencephalography study

Heinrichs‐Graham

McDermott²,

Mills³

et al. 2017

Cortex

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Transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS) is a noninvasive neuromodulatory method that involves delivering low amplitude, direct current to specific regions of the brain. While a wealth of literature shows changes in behavior and cognition following tDCS administration, the underlying neuronal mechanisms remain largely unknown. Neuroimaging studies have generally used fMRI and shown only limited consensus to date, while the few electrophysiological studies have reported mostly null or counterintuitive findings. The goal of the current investigation was to quantify tDCS-induced alterations in the oscillatory dynamics of visual processing. To this end, we performed either active or sham tDCS using an occipital-frontal electrode configuration, and then recorded magnetoencephalography (MEG) offline during a visual entrainment task. Significant oscillatory responses were imaged in the time-frequency domain using beamforming, and the effects of tDCS on absolute and relative power were assessed. The results indicated significantly increased basal alpha levels in the occipital cortex following anodal tDCS, as well as reduced occipital synchronization at the second harmonic of the stimulus-flicker frequency relative to sham stimulation. In addition, we found reduced power in brain regions near the cathode (e.g., right inferior frontal gyrus) following active tDCS, which was absent in the sham group. Taken together, these results suggest that anodal tDCS of the occipital cortices differentially modulates spontaneous and induced activity, and may interfere with the entrainment of neuronal populations by a visual-flicker stimulus. These findings also demonstrate the importance of electrode configuration on whole-brain dynamics, and highlight the deceptively complicated nature of tDCS in the context of neurophysiology.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transcranial direct-current stimulation modulates offline visual oscillatory activity: A magnetoencephalography study

Heinrichs‐Graham

McDermott²,

Mills³

et al. 2017

Cortex

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“…Single tDCS sessions, lasting for 10-20 min, produced increased MEP amplitudes up to 90 min after terminating the stimulation [20]. Furthermore, tDCS-induced effects from repeated application over the course of 5 consecutive days were still detected at follow-up examinations 4 weeks after the stimulation [24].…”

Section: Neurophysiological Characteristics Of Noninvasive Brain Stimmentioning

confidence: 91%

Tuning noninvasive brain stimulation with MRI to cope with intersubject variability

Habich

Canals

Klöppel

2016

Current Opinion in Neurology

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a,c,dPurpose of review The review aims at highlighting the additional benefit that can be gained from combining noninvasive brain stimulation as well as repetitive sensory stimulation protocols with MRI techniques to account for the intersubject variability observed in those treatments. Potentially, this should help to identify predictive patterns in the individual receptiveness to the treatment. Recent findingsKnowledge about the underlying physiological principles of excitability changes as induced by noninvasive brain stimulation or repetitive sensory stimulation is accumulating, revealing strong associations with plasticity processes at the synaptic level. In this context, MRI techniques, such as magnetic resonance spectroscopy and functional MRI, emerged as valuable tools for the qualitative assessment of baseline states and induced changes. Those physiological readouts can help explain the interindividual heterogeneity found in behavioural and/or clinical responses to the specific stimulation protocols. This knowledge will eventually translate, first, into the preliminary classification of study participants into treatment groups according to their neurophysiological baseline state and expected responses to a particular stimulation. Subsequently, this should also aid the optimization of stimulation protocols according to the classification outcome, resulting in retuned protocols for particular groups of study participants. SummaryThe consistent MRI-based monitoring of stimulation effects in the neural network promises a considerable gain for the customization of intervention protocols with improved therapeutic potential and rehabilitative predictions.

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“…Recently, we reported effects of repeatedly applied anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on tactile acuity learning of the dominant (right) index finger (IF) and concomitant neural changes as investigated by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) (Hilgenstock, Weiss, Huonker, & Witte, ). Relying on the same study, this article focuses on the structural underpinnings of these findings as investigated by voxel‐based morphometry (VBM) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, tDCS has widely been applied to study cognition, motor, and somatosensory functioning (e.g., Das, Holland, Frens, & Donchin, ; Stagg & Nitsche, ) but also to explore its beneficial potential in pathological states (e.g., Allman et al, ; Lindenberg, Renga, Zhu, Nair, & Schlaug, ; Lindenberg, Zhu, & Schlaug, ; Mori et al, ). With regard to the somatosensory system, anodal tDCS induces short‐term (e.g., Fujimoto, Yamaguchi, Otaka, Kondo, & Tanaka, ; Fujimoto et al, ; Ragert, Vandermeeren, Camus, & Cohen, ) as well as long‐term (Hilgenstock et al, ) effects on tactile acuity. After 5 days of anodal tDCS delivery, there was a profound and bilateral improvement of tactile acuity that persisted for at least 4 weeks.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…After 5 days of anodal tDCS delivery, there was a profound and bilateral improvement of tactile acuity that persisted for at least 4 weeks. These improvements in tactile acuity were accompanied by changes in brain metabolism interpreted to indicate a more effective recruitment of neural machinery to process somatosensory information (Hilgenstock et al, ). Yet, despite the widespread application of tDCS and insights into changes in brain metabolism and connectivity, structural changes in the gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) compartment of the brain in response to its repeated application have hardly been investigated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impact of transcranial direct current stimulation on structural plasticity of the somatosensory system

Hirtz

Weiß

Huonker

et al. 2018

J of Neuroscience Research

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While there is a growing body of evidence regarding the behavioral and neurofunctional changes in response to the longitudinal delivery of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), there is limited evidence regarding its structural effects. Therefore, the present study was intended to investigate the effect of repeatedly applied anodal tDCS over the primary somatosensory cortex on the gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) compartment of the brain. Structural tDCS effects were, moreover, related to effects evidenced by functional imaging and behavioral assessment. tDCS was applied over the course of 5 days in 25 subjects with concomitant assessment of tactile acuity of the right and left index finger as well as imaging at baseline, after the last delivery of tDCS and at follow-up 4 weeks thereafter. Irrespective of the stimulation condition (anodal vs. sham), voxel-based morphometry revealed a behaviorally relevant decrease of GM in the precuneus co-localized with a functional change of its activity. Moreover, there was a decrease in GM of the bilateral lingual gyrus and the right cerebellum. Diffusion tensor imaging analysis showed an increase of fractional anisotropy exclusively in the tDCS condition in the left frontal cortex affecting the final stretch of a somatosensory decision making network comprising the middle and superior frontal gyrus as well as regions adjacent to the genu of the corpus callosum. Thus, this is the first study in humans to identify structural plasticity in the GM compartment and tDCS-specific changes in the WM compartment in response to somatosensory learning.

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Behavioural and neurofunctional impact of transcranial direct current stimulation on somatosensory learning

Cited by 21 publications

References 110 publications

Transcranial direct-current stimulation modulates offline visual oscillatory activity: A magnetoencephalography study

Transcranial direct-current stimulation modulates offline visual oscillatory activity: A magnetoencephalography study

Tuning noninvasive brain stimulation with MRI to cope with intersubject variability

Impact of transcranial direct current stimulation on structural plasticity of the somatosensory system

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