Closed-Loop Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation: Towards Personalized Non-invasive Brain Stimulation for the Treatment of Psychiatric Illnesses

AbstractPurpose of ReviewThis review introduces closed-loop transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS), which has the potential to become an effective and safe treatment modality for psychiatric illnesses such as schizophrenia and depression.Recent FindingsThe weak electric fields delivered to the brain by transcranial current stimulation interact in a synergistic manner with endogenous rhythmic brain activity patterns. As a result, the effect of stimulation on neuronal network dynamics is state dependent. Therefore, closed-loop paradigms that measure brain activity and apply targeted stimulation based on these measurements may allow effective modulation by targeted low-amplitude stimulation that is tuned to modulate the measured activity. Few initial studies of such closed-loop tACS have recently documented successful target engagement, mostly for applications that target specific activity patterns during sleep.SummaryGiven the urgent need of novel therapeutic interventions for psychiatric disorders and the recent promising data from initial tACS clinical trials in psychiatry, we propose that closed-loop tACS deserves attention as a promising personalized medicine strategy in psychiatry.
Source: Current Behavioral Neuroscience Reports - Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research