Targeting brain networks with multichannel transcranial current stimulation (tCS)

Giulio Ruffini (1) , Fabrice Wendling (2) , Roser Sanchez-Todo (1) , Emiliano Santarnecchi (3)

1 Neuroelectrics
2 LTSI - Laboratoire Traitement du Signal et de l'Image
3 HMS - Harvard Medical School [Boston]

The brain is a complex, plastic, electrical network whose dysfunctions result in neurological disorders. Multichannel transcranial electrical stimulation (tCS) is a non-invasive neuromodulatory technique with the potential for network-oriented therapy. Challenges to realizing this vision include the proper identification of involved networks in a patient-specific context, a deeper understanding of the effects of stimulation on interconnected neuronal populations-both immediate and plastic-and, based on these, developing strategies to personalize brain stimulation interventions. For this reason, personalized hybrid biophysical and physiological models of brain networks are poised to play a key role in the evolution of network-oriented transcranial stimulation. We review some of the recent work in this emerging area of research and provide an outlook for future modeling and experimental work, as well as for developing its clinical applications in fields such as epilepsy.

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Bioengineering; Life Sciences [q-bio]; Neurons and Cognition [q-bio.NC]

Giulio Ruffini, Fabrice Wendling, Roser Sanchez-Todo, Emiliano Santarnecchi. Targeting brain networks with multichannel transcranial current stimulation (tCS). Current Opinion in Biomedical Engineering, 2018, 8, pp.70-77. ⟨10.1016/j.cobme.2018.11.001⟩. ⟨hal-01954283⟩