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Updated: Jun 13, 2025
Simultaneous Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Published on: June 5, 2017
Effects of antagonistic network-targeted tDCS on brain co-activation patterns depends on the networks' electric
Hechun Li1, Hongru Shi1, Sisi Jiang1
1The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Lab for Neuroinformation, Center for Information in Medicine, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, PR China.
Background:
Brain networks should be ideal targets for non-invasive brain stimulation, as network dysfunction is a common feature of various neuropsychiatric disorders. Understanding the mechanisms of network-targeted stimulation is essential for advancing its clinical applications.
Material And Method:
The current study utilized simultaneous network-targeted transcranial direct current stimulation(tDCS) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the effects of tDCS targeting antagonistic networks on brain dynamics. A total of 143 healthy participants were recruited and assigned to receive central executive network (CEN)-targeted tDCS (C-targeted group), default mode network (DMN)-targeted tDCS (D-targeted group), or sham tDCS (sham group). fMRI data with three sections (pre-stimulation, during-stimulation, post-stimulation) were collected across all subjects. Individual electric field (EF) strength was simulated using individual head model. Six recurring brain patterns (co-activation patterns, CAPs) were identified. The temporal indices of these CAPs (occurrence, fraction time, persistence time) and their transition probabilities were calculated. This study first examined the effects of C-targeted / D-targeted / sham tDCS on temporal indices and further explored the contribution of brain networks' EF strength on the altered temporal indices.
Results:
C-targeted tDCS significantly increased the temporal indices of CAPs dominated by DMN and the transition probabilities from other CAPs to DMN-dominated CAPs during stimulation. Meanwhile, the decreased temporal indices of CAP dominated by CEN, and its transition probabilities to these CAPs were also found during C-targeted tDCS. In contrast, the d-targeted tDCS had only a slight effect on brain dynamics, while sham tDCS showed no significant impact. Further fusion analyses revealed that the EF strength in the salience network made a large contribution to the temporal indices of CAPs during stimulation, highlighting tight interactions within the triple networks. Moreover, integrating the EF strength of networks with large contributions and the pre-stimulation temporal indices effectively predicted the temporal indices of CAPs during stimulation. These findings suggest that C-targeted tDCS can modulate brain dynamics and emphasize the critical role of networks' EF during stimulation.
Conclusion:
This study demonstrates the effectiveness and feasibility of network-targeted tDCS in modulating brain dynamics, providing a new choice for treating neuropsychiatric disorders characterized by aberrant brain dynamics.
