Transcranial electrical stimulation (TES) is a safe and non-invasive neuromodulatory technique that delivers low-intensity electrical currents to the brain facilitating or inhibiting its neuronal activity. History shows that Scribonius Largus described how placing a live torpedo electrical fish over the scalp relieves headache in a patient. Since then, fundamental advances in technologies have occurred to control the parameters of TES, going from high to low-intensities with well-defined waveforms. Furthermore, in the last two decades, many publications showed that these waveform modalities (direct current stimulation, tDCS; alternating current stimulation; tACS; or random noise stimulation, tRNS) are helpful techniques in basic research and medical applications. Indeed, several randomized, single-blind, sham-controlled clinical trials claim that this neurostimulation method could be a potentially beneficial tool in therapies for various neurological disorders. However, little is known about its physiological mechanisms of action.
This Research Topic aims to present novel findings and breakthrough approaches in TES physiological mechanisms. In particular, the topic aims to expand the information available on the physiological mechanisms that underlie the TES modalities (tDCS, tACS, and tRNS) as neurostimulation techniques with potential use in therapies for several neurological disorders. For instance, some neurological disorders could be attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, schizophrenia, epilepsy, depression, amblyopia, myopia, tinnitus, multiple sclerosis, post-stroke, vestibular-postural disorders, and sensitivity loss. Authors are encouraged to identify the most significant challenges in search of TES mechanisms and how to address those challenges. Contributions should cover a broad spectrum of experimental and theoretical analyses in animals and humans, from molecular entities and isolated cells to studies of neural circuits and their genetic expression modulated by TES.
The scope of this Research Topic will cover studies shedding light on TES mechanisms obtained in human and animal preparations either in normal or in pathological conditions. The type of animal experiments could include (but are not limited to) the study of ionic currents, genetic expression, neurotransmitter release, local field potentials, optogenetics, Opto nongenetics, stochastic resonance, and behavior. Moreover, the experiments in humans could uncover (but not be limited to) the TES mechanism by using EEG, event-related potentials, motor-potentials evoked by transcranial magnetic stimulation, functional magnetic resonance, functional near-infrared spectroscopy, photobiomodulation, and behavior. In addition, the scope considers investigations about the uses of TES to modulate (and measure) cortical excitability in different brain regions to improve diverse sensory, perceptual, motor, and cognitive functions. Finally, the scope includes new developments of TES devices, the biophysical evaluation of the actual TES techniques, computer simulations, neural computation models, and theoretical studies accounting for TES mechanisms.
Transcranial electrical stimulation (TES) is a safe and non-invasive neuromodulatory technique that delivers low-intensity electrical currents to the brain facilitating or inhibiting its neuronal activity. History shows that Scribonius Largus described how placing a live torpedo electrical fish over the scalp relieves headache in a patient. Since then, fundamental advances in technologies have occurred to control the parameters of TES, going from high to low-intensities with well-defined waveforms. Furthermore, in the last two decades, many publications showed that these waveform modalities (direct current stimulation, tDCS; alternating current stimulation; tACS; or random noise stimulation, tRNS) are helpful techniques in basic research and medical applications. Indeed, several randomized, single-blind, sham-controlled clinical trials claim that this neurostimulation method could be a potentially beneficial tool in therapies for various neurological disorders. However, little is known about its physiological mechanisms of action.
This Research Topic aims to present novel findings and breakthrough approaches in TES physiological mechanisms. In particular, the topic aims to expand the information available on the physiological mechanisms that underlie the TES modalities (tDCS, tACS, and tRNS) as neurostimulation techniques with potential use in therapies for several neurological disorders. For instance, some neurological disorders could be attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, schizophrenia, epilepsy, depression, amblyopia, myopia, tinnitus, multiple sclerosis, post-stroke, vestibular-postural disorders, and sensitivity loss. Authors are encouraged to identify the most significant challenges in search of TES mechanisms and how to address those challenges. Contributions should cover a broad spectrum of experimental and theoretical analyses in animals and humans, from molecular entities and isolated cells to studies of neural circuits and their genetic expression modulated by TES.
The scope of this Research Topic will cover studies shedding light on TES mechanisms obtained in human and animal preparations either in normal or in pathological conditions. The type of animal experiments could include (but are not limited to) the study of ionic currents, genetic expression, neurotransmitter release, local field potentials, optogenetics, Opto nongenetics, stochastic resonance, and behavior. Moreover, the experiments in humans could uncover (but not be limited to) the TES mechanism by using EEG, event-related potentials, motor-potentials evoked by transcranial magnetic stimulation, functional magnetic resonance, functional near-infrared spectroscopy, photobiomodulation, and behavior. In addition, the scope considers investigations about the uses of TES to modulate (and measure) cortical excitability in different brain regions to improve diverse sensory, perceptual, motor, and cognitive functions. Finally, the scope includes new developments of TES devices, the biophysical evaluation of the actual TES techniques, computer simulations, neural computation models, and theoretical studies accounting for TES mechanisms.