Effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on human regional cerebral blood flow

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can up- and down-regulate cortical excitability depending on current direction, however our abilities to measure brain-tissue effects of the stimulation and its after-effects have been limited so far. We used regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF), a surrogate measure of brain activity, to examine regional brain-tissue and brain-network effects during and after tDCS. We varied the polarity (anodal and cathodal) as well as the current strength (0.8 to 2.0mA) of the stimulation. Fourteen healthy subjects were randomized into receiving either anodal or cathodal stimulation (two subjects received both, one week apart) while undergoing Arterial Spin Labeling (ASL) in the MRI scanner with an alternating off-on sampling paradigm. The stimulating, MRI-compatible electrode was placed over the right motor region and the reference electrode over the contralateral supra-orbital region. SPM5 was used to process and extract the rCBF data using a 10mm spherical volume of interest (VOI) placed in the motor cortex directly underneath the stimulating scalp electrode. Anodal stimulation induced a large increase (17.1%) in rCBF during stimulation, which returned to baseline after the current was turned off, but exhibited an increase in rCBF again in the post-stimulation period. Cathodal stimulation induced a smaller increase (5.6%) during stimulation, a significant decrease compared to baseline (-6.5%) after cessation, and a continued decrease in the post-stimulation period. These changes in rCBF were all significant when compared to the pre-stimulation baseline or to a control region. Furthermore, for anodal stimulation, there was a significant correlation between current strength and the increase in rCBF in the on-period relative to the pre-stimulation baseline. The differential rCBF after-effects of anodal (increase in resting state rCBF) and cathodal (decrease in resting state rCBF) tDCS support findings of behavioral and cognitive after-effects after cathodal and anodal tDCS. We also show that tDCS not only modulates activity in the brain region directly underlying the stimulating electrode but also in a network of brain regions that are functionally related to the stimulated area. Our results indicate that ASL may be an excellent tool to investigate the effects of tDCS and its stimulation parameters on brain activity.