Topic: transcranial direct current stimulation

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has proven to be effective in reducing the seizure frequency in patients with epilepsy. This therapy greatly benefits from designing personalized electrode montages (electrode positions and currents) that target the appropriate areas of the brain. In the state-of-the-art pipelines, a specialized physician selects these areas and a biophysical model of the patient’s head is used to find an optimal electrode montage that inhibits them. In the Galvani project, we aim to go a step forward and develop a pipeline that uses personalized Neurotwins for mo

Speech impairment is reported among 70% of the Parkinson’s disease (PD) population, deeply impacting individual quality of life and social costs. Because of the lack of efficacy of pharmacological and DBS treatments, we developed an experimental protocol based on the Lee Silverman Voice Therapy (LSVT) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to study the role that such treatments have on electroencephalographic (EEG) oscillations. We enrolled 10 PD patients affected by speech disorders who underwent the 1-month LSVT protocol coupled with tDCS over the right Superior Temporal Gyrus (r

Transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) is the non-invasive application of a weak electrical current between electrodes placed on the head. It enables cognitive modulation in humans by affecting neuronal excitability and plasticity, although the precise working mechanisms and optimal stimulation approaches are still unknown. Simultaneous functional brain network recording using magnetoencephalography (MEG) could enhance our understanding of the neurophysiological effects of tES and facilitate closed-loop neuromodulation.A concurrent tES-MEG session will be conducted in 20 adults without a ne

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a clinical technique employed in the treatment of multiple pathological conditions such as chronic pain, stroke, and among others. Nonetheless, a comprehensive exploration of the impact of electric fields on cortical circuits is still necessary. Studies by Frohlich and McCormick (2010) and D’Andola et al. (2018) have revealed the effect of direct current (DC) exogenous fields to modulate emergent activity patterns in cortical slices exhibiting spontaneous slow oscillations (SO).Considering the potential of tDCS as a treatment option for epileps

Previous research suggests that electrical stimulation over posterior parietal cortex (PPC) can modulate visual cognition that requires selective attention, yet the specific neural processes affected remain unclear. We hypothesized that tDCS over the PPC influenced the distribution of visuospatial attention by mediating the way selective attention wrap visuocortical processing. We tested this hypothesis using unilateral transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS) to the PPC of male and female human volunteers before we recorded electroencephalography (EEG) and collected psychophysical data.

Systems consolidation theory posits that storage and retrieval of recent episodic memory require that plastic changes initially develop in the hippocampus (HIP) and, at later stages, in prefrontal cortex (PFC) which ultimately self-governs storage and retrieval of remote memory. Whether and how systems consolidation develops in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is unknown. We previously reported that 2-month-old pre-symptomatic Tg2576 AD mice trained for contextual fear conditioning (CFC) exhibit intact recent memory without activating the HIP but, instead, over-activating the BLA. Here

Exposure-based therapies can be highly effective for patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) but up to one third of patients do not respond adequately. Repeated exposure to fear-evoking cues is hypothesized to suppress fear responses through the acquisition and recall of new safety learning in a process termed fear extinction. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has gained interest as a non-invasive neuromodulation technique that may suppress fear expression or augment fear extinction. We previously established that in mice, repeated anodal tDCS applied over the prefront

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are a range of neurodevelopmental disorders, characterized by behavioral and neuronal anomalies. Phelan-McDermid Syndrome (PMS) constitutes a specific neurodevelopmental disorder exhibiting ASD-like behaviors, caused by mutations or deletions of SHANK3 gene. Mice lacking the SHANK3 gene are widely considered a reliable model to study PMS, since they show autism-like behaviors and sensory deficits, such as aberrant whisker-dependent texture discrimination and local hyperactivation of the barrel-field cortex. These local alterations mirror dysfunctions of the enti

Studies in animals and humans have shown that cortical neuroplasticity can be modulated by increasing serotonin levels by administering selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI). However, little is known about the mechanistic background, especially the contribution of intracortical inhibition and facilitation, which depend on gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate. We aimed to explore the relevance of drivers of plasticity (glutamate- and GABA-dependent processes) for the effects of serotonin enhancement on tDCS-induced plasticity in healthy humans. A crossover, partially double-bli

We have previously shown a precocious and selective dopamine neurodegeneration in the Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA) of Tg2576 mice, a reliable experimental model of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). In this model, the VTA neuronal loss causes the decrease of dopamine outflow in the Hippocampus and the Nucleus Accumbens, leading to impaired synaptic plasticity, memory and reward processing. Mesocorticolimbic system deficits are also reported in AD patients. Interestingly, pharmacological interventions aimed at improving DA levels ameliorate AD deficits in mice.However, drug-based treatments might cause

Metacognition encompasses the capability to monitor and control one’s cognitive processes. According to brain imaging, prospective and retrospective second-order judgments recruit widespread portions of prefrontal cortex (PFC), thus leaving the neuronal architecture underlying metacognitive knowledge poorly understood. This pilot experiment makes use of transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) targeting the ventromedial PFC (vmPFC) to understand whether this brain region occupies a crucial role in sustaining metacognition. A randomized, double-blind, within-subjects research design was u

Available treatments for Anorexia Nervosa (AN) have demonstrated limited efficacy. Moreover, therapeutic interventions focusing on neural correlates and on populations with AN in adolescence are limited. A double-blind, placebo-controlled, add-on randomized trial (RCT) was conducted to study the efficacy of excitatory transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the left prefrontal cortex in improving the clinical outcome of traditional treatment in adolescents with AN. Fifty girls with AN (aged 10 to 18 years) underwent 18 sessions of tDCS treatment (active or placebo) over the PFC (an

The growing application of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in both experimental and clinical settings prompts an exploration of its underlying neurobiological mechanisms. Emerging evidence suggests that tDCS indirectly modulates brain activity via cranial nerve pathways, notably the trigeminal nerve. These pathways play a role in controlling neurotransmitter release and possible upstream effects. However, the electrophysiological effects of direct current stimulation on the trigeminal nerve (DC-TNS) within brainstem nuclei remain uncharted territory.Hereby, DC-TNS (± 0.25- ± 3 m