Cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen (CMRO₂) changes measured with simultaneous tDCS-MRI in healthy adults

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a safe and well-tolerated noninvasive technique used for cortical excitability modulation. tDCS has been extensively investigated for its clinical applications; however further understanding of its underlying in-vivo physiological mechanisms remains a fundamental focus of current research.

We investigated the simultaneous effects of tDCS on cerebral blood flow (CBF), venous blood oxygenation (Yv) and cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen (CMRO₂) using simultaneous MRI in healthy adults to provide a reference frame for its neurobiological mechanisms.

Twenty-three healthy participants (age = 35.6 ± 15.0 years old, 10 males) completed a simultaneous tDCS-MRI session in a 3 T scanner fitted with a 64-channels head coil. A MR-compatible tDCS device was used to acquire CBF, Yv and CMRO₂ at three time points: pre-, during- and post- 15 minutes of 2.0 mA tDCS on left anodal dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.

During tDCS, CBF significantly increased (57.10 ± 8.33 mL/100g/min) from baseline (53.67 ± 7.75 mL/100g/min; p < 0.0001) and remained elevated in post-tDCS (56.79 ± 8.70 mL/100g/min). Venous blood oxygenation levels measured in pre-tDCS (60.71 ± 4.12 %) did not significantly change across the three timepoints. The resulting CMRO₂ significantly increased by 5.9 % during-tDCS (175.68 ± 30.78 µmol/100g/min) compared to pre-tDCS (165.84 ± 25.32 µmol/100g/min; p = 0.0015), maintaining increased levels in post-tDCS (176.86 ± 28.58 µmol/100g/min).

tDCS has immediate effects on neuronal excitability, as measured by increased cerebral blood supply and oxygen consumption supporting increased neuronal firing. These findings provide a standard range of CBF and CMRO₂ changes due to tDCS in healthy adults that may be incorporated in clinical studies to evaluate its therapeutic potential.