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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Aging Neurosci.
Sec. Neurocognitive Aging and Behavior
Volume 16 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2024.1492838
This article is part of the Research Topic Progress in the Assessment and Intervention of Neurocognitive Aging and Neurodegenerative Diseases View all 6 articles

Aftereffect of single transcranial direct and alternating current stimulation on spontaneous home-cage and open-field EEG activities in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease

Provisionally accepted
Hua-ying Sun Hua-ying Sun 1,2Yumei Wang Yumei Wang 2Dong Yuan Dong Yuan 2Mengsi Duan Mengsi Duan 2Zhuangfei Chen Zhuangfei Chen 2Fu Yu Fu Yu 2*
  • 1 Yunnan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Kunming, China
  • 2 Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    As a non-drug and non-invasive therapy, both transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) may modulate cortical rhythms and serve as potentially effective approaches to cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, studies using animal models of AD are quite limited. This study investigates the aftereffects of tACS and tDCS on brain EEG activity and associated exploratory behavior in normal aged and APP /PS1 transgenic mice (15 months old). Anodal tDCS and 10 Hz tACS (350 μA, 20 min) were applied once and EEGs were recorded from the hippocampus (Hip) and prefrontal cortex (PFC) during spontaneous home-cage state and open-field exploration. A key finding was that tDCS induced significant alpha (8-12 Hz) EEG changes while tACS induced peak frequency changes in the group difference between normal aged and AD mice. However, both groups showed similar increases in theta (4-8 Hz) EEG activity during open-field exploration and increases in gamma (20-100 Hz) EEG activity in spontaneous state, suggesting that the ongoing physiological state may be related to some of the EEG changes. This study provides insight into the short-term aftereffects of transcranial current stimulation in the aging and AD brain and is the first animal study to compare brain activity between tACS and tDCS treatments.

    Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, EEG, Mice, tDCS, tACS (transcranial alternating current stimulation)

    Received: 08 Sep 2024; Accepted: 29 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Sun, Wang, Yuan, Duan, Chen and Yu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Fu Yu, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, 650500, Yunnan Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.