Low frequency transcranial electrical stimulation does not entrain sleep rhythms measured by human intracranial recordings

Belen Lafon, Simon Henin, Yu Huang, Daniel Friedman, Lucia Melloni, Thomas Thesen, Werner Doyle, György Buzsáki, Orrin Devinsky, Lucas C. Parra and Anli Liu ()
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Belen Lafon: City College of New York
Simon Henin: New York University Comprehensive Epilepsy Center
Yu Huang: City College of New York
Daniel Friedman: New York University Comprehensive Epilepsy Center
Lucia Melloni: New York University Comprehensive Epilepsy Center
Thomas Thesen: New York University School of Medicine
Werner Doyle: New York University Comprehensive Epilepsy Center
György Buzsáki: New York University School of Medicine
Orrin Devinsky: New York University Comprehensive Epilepsy Center
Lucas C. Parra: City College of New York
Anli Liu: New York University Comprehensive Epilepsy Center

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: Abstract Transcranial electrical stimulation has widespread clinical and research applications, yet its effect on ongoing neural activity in humans is not well established. Previous reports argue that transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) can entrain and enhance neural rhythms related to memory, but the evidence from non-invasive recordings has remained inconclusive. Here, we measure endogenous spindle and theta activity intracranially in humans during low-frequency tACS and find no stable entrainment of spindle power during non-REM sleep, nor of theta power during resting wakefulness. As positive controls, we find robust entrainment of spindle activity to endogenous slow-wave activity in 66% of electrodes as well as entrainment to rhythmic noise-burst acoustic stimulation in 14% of electrodes. We conclude that low-frequency tACS at common stimulation intensities neither acutely modulates spindle activity during sleep nor theta activity during waking rest, likely because of the attenuated electrical fields reaching the cortical surface.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01045-x

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