Test and re-test reliability of optimal stimulation targets and parameters for personalized neuromodulation.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Computational Psychiatry
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Neuromodulation protocols aim to optimize targets and parameters for treating neuropsychiatric diseases.
• Previous research has not simultaneously investigated the temporal effects and test-retest reliability of optimal neuromodulation protocols.
• Optimizing neuromodulation requires understanding the stability and reproducibility of target and parameter selection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the temporal effects of optimal neuromodulation targets and parameters using a customized protocol.
• To examine the test-retest reliability of these optimal targets and parameters over time.
• To assess the validity of the protocol for reliable application in clinical settings.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a structural and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) dataset from 57 healthy young subjects.
• Performed brain controllability analysis to identify optimal neuromodulation targets.
• Applied optimal control analysis to calculate parameters for specific brain state transitions and used Intra-class correlation (ICC) for reliability assessment.

Main Results:

• Optimal neuromodulation targets and parameters demonstrated excellent test-retest reliability (ICCs > 0.80).
• Model fitting accuracies showed good test-retest reliability (ICC > 0.65).
• The customized protocol reliably identified optimal targets and parameters across different visits.

Conclusions:

• The developed neuromodulation protocol is valid and reliable for identifying optimal targets and parameters.
• These findings support the potential extension of this protocol for optimizing neuromodulation therapies.
• The protocol may enhance the efficiency of treating various neuropsychiatric disorders.