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Scalp Stimulation Targets for Neurological Conditions-Evidence from Large-Scale Meta-Analyses
Jin Cao1, Thalia Celeste Chai-Zhang1, Caroline Meritt McDonald1
1Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA.
Background:
Neurological disorders are a major source of suffering for patients worldwide. Scalp stimulation methods have been widely applied in treating a number of neurological disorders. Recently, our understanding of pathological mechanisms associated with neurological disorders has been enhanced significantly. Nevertheless, these findings have yet to be well-integrated into scalp stimulation treatments for neurological disorders.
Methods:
In a previous study, we proposed new brain targets for scalp stimulation in the treatment of eight common mental disorders based on the results of a large-scale meta-analyses using Neurosynth. This study aims to extend our previous findings in identifying surface brain targets for seven common neurological disorders: Alzheimer's disease, aphasia, chronic pain, dementia, dyslexia, mild cognitive impairment, and Parkinson's disease, utilizing a similar method.
Results:
We hidentified seven to eight potential scalp stimulation targets for each disorder and used both 10-20 EEG system and acupuncture points to locate these targets to facilitate its clinical application.
Conclusions:
The proposed target protocols may facilitate and extend clinical applications of scalp stimulation methods such as transcranial electrical stimulation and scalp acupuncture in the treatment of neurological disorders.
