Transcranial electrical stimulation: How can a simple conductor orchestrate complex brain activity?

ABSTRACT: Transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) is one of the oldest and yet least understood forms of brain stimulation. The idea that a weak electrical stimulus, applied outside the head, can meaningfully affect neural activity is often regarded as mysterious. Here, we argue that the direct effects of tES are not so mysterious: Extensive data from a wide range of model systems shows it has appreciable effects on the activity of individual neurons. Instead, the real mysteries are how tES interacts with the brain’s own activity and how these dynamics can be controlled to produce desirable therapeutic effects. These are challenging problems, akin to repairing a complex machine while it is running, but they are not unique to tES or even neuroscience. We suggest that models of coupled oscillators,

SUBMITTER: Krause M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9886255 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature