Pulsed transcranial electric brain stimulation enhances speech comprehension

One key mechanism thought to underlie speech processing is the alignment of cortical brain rhythms to the acoustic input, a mechanism termed entrainment. Recent work showed that transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) in speech relevant frequencies or adapted to the speech envelope can in fact enhance speech processing. However, it is unclear whether an oscillatory tES is necessary, or if transients in the stimulation (e.g., peaks in the tES signal) at relevant times are sufficient.

Source: BRAIN STIMULATION: Basic, Translational, and Clinical Research in Neuromodulation - July 27, 2020 Category: Neurology Authors: Philipp Ruhnau, Katharina S. Rufener, Hans-Jochen Heinze, Tino Zaehle Source Type: research