Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, United States; Carolina Center for Neurostimulation, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, United States.
Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, United States.
Neuroimage. 2019 Feb 1;186:126-136. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.10.056. Epub 2018 Oct 24.
Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) modulates endogenous neural oscillations in healthy human participants by the application of a low-amplitude electrical current with a periodic stimulation waveform. Yet, it is unclear if tACS can modulate and restore neural oscillations that are reduced in patients with psychiatric illnesses such as schizophrenia. Here, we asked if tACS modulates network oscillations in schizophrenia. We performed a randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled clinical trial to contrast tACS with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and sham stimulation in 22 schizophrenia patients with auditory hallucinations. We used high-density electroencephalography to investigate if a five-day, twice-daily 10Hz-tACS protocol enhances alpha oscillations and modulates network dynamics that are reduced in schizophrenia. We found that 10Hz-tACS enhanced alpha oscillations and modulated functional connectivity in the alpha frequency band. In addition, 10Hz-tACS enhanced the 40Hz auditory steady-state response (ASSR), which is reduced in patients with schizophrenia. Importantly, clinical improvement of auditory hallucinations correlated with enhancement of alpha oscillations and the 40Hz-ASSR. Together, our findings suggest that tACS has potential as a network-level approach to modulate reduced neural oscillations related to clinical symptoms in patients with schizophrenia.
经颅交流电刺激（tACS）通过应用具有周期性刺激波形的低幅度电流来调节健康人类参与者的内源性神经振荡。然而，目前尚不清楚 tACS 是否可以调节和恢复精神疾病（如精神分裂症）患者减少的神经振荡。在这里，我们想知道 tACS 是否可以调节精神分裂症患者的网络振荡。我们进行了一项随机、双盲、假刺激对照的临床试验，对比了 tACS 与经颅直流电刺激（tDCS）和假刺激在 22 名有幻听的精神分裂症患者中的作用。我们使用高密度脑电图来研究为期五天、每天两次的 10Hz-tACS 方案是否可以增强 alpha 振荡，并调节精神分裂症患者中减少的网络动力学。我们发现 10Hz-tACS 增强了 alpha 振荡，并调节了 alpha 频带中的功能连接。此外，10Hz-tACS 增强了 40Hz 听觉稳态反应（ASSR），而这种反应在精神分裂症患者中是降低的。重要的是，幻听的临床改善与 alpha 振荡和 40Hz-ASSR 的增强相关。总之，我们的发现表明，tACS 具有作为一种调节与精神分裂症患者临床症状相关的降低神经振荡的网络水平方法的潜力。
