A wide range of neurological and neuropsychiatric diseases is still incurable. Neurodegenerative and chronic inflammatory diseases of the CNS such as stroke, traumatic brain injury (TBI), Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), autoimmune disorders like multiple sclerosis (MS) and behavioral diseases (i.e. Major Depression, MD, and anxiety) lack proper medication and produce significant individual and social costs. The presence of multiple pathways involving genes, proteins, organelles and complex neural networks contribute to the heterogeneity of each of these disorders, making it difficult to develop and test the efficacy of potential medical applications.
For those reasons, the formulation of new and alternative therapeutic strategies and working hypotheses that are based on the understanding of underlying mechanisms of action is essential. Non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) techniques – mainly TMS/rTMS, tDCS/tACS/tRNS, but also transcranial static magnetic stimulation (tSMS) or transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS) – have the great appeal of being safe and promoting wide-ranging activity, from molecular to network modifications, both in excitable and non-excitable cells.
The aim present Research Topic is to bring together Original Research, Review, Mini-Review, Hypothesis and Theory, Perspective, Clinical Trial, Case Report, and Opinion focusing on the use of NIBS techniques as a therapy for neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders, paying attention to molecular, cellular and network modifications. Both basic and clinical studies are welcomed, as also translational researches. Areas to be covered in this Research Topic may include, but are not limited to:
• New protocols based on a NIBS technique (or a combination of more)
• Effects of NIBS on molecular/cellular activity in physiological and pathological conditions
• Effects of NIBS on neuronal circuits (i.e. brain dynamics and synchronization)
• Possibility to modulate wide cortical/subcortical areas
• Mechanisms underlying behavioral modifications
• The role of different NIBS on inflammation
• The different effect/aftereffects of magnetic and electrical stimulation