IEEE Trans Med Imaging. 2019 Dec;38(12):2829-2837. doi: 10.1109/TMI.2019.2915206. Epub 2019 May 7.
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is routinely used in basic and clinical research, but its efficacy has been challenged on a methodological, statistical and technical basis recently. The arguments against tDCS derive from an insufficient understanding of how this technique interacts with brain processes physiologically. Because of its potential as a central tool in neuroscience, it is important to clarify whether tDCS affects neuronal activity. Here, we investigate influences of offline tDCS on network architecture measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging. Applied to one network node only, offline tDCS affects the architecture of the entire functional network. Furthermore, offline tDCS exerts polarity-specific effects on the topology of the functional network attached. Our results confirm in a functioning brain and in a bias free and independent fashion that offline tDCS influences neuronal activity. Moreover, our results suggest that network-specific connectivity has an important role in improving our understanding of the effects of tDCS.
经颅直流电刺激（tDCS）在基础和临床研究中被常规应用，但最近其疗效在方法学、统计学和技术基础上受到了挑战。反对 tDCS 的观点源于对这种技术如何在生理上与大脑过程相互作用的理解不足。由于其作为神经科学核心工具的潜力，澄清 tDCS 是否影响神经元活动非常重要。在这里，我们通过功能磁共振成像研究了离线 tDCS 对网络结构的影响。仅应用于一个网络节点，离线 tDCS 会影响整个功能网络的结构。此外，离线 tDCS 对附加的功能网络拓扑结构产生极性特异性影响。我们的结果在功能正常的大脑中以无偏和独立的方式证实了离线 tDCS 会影响神经元活动。此外，我们的结果表明，特定于网络的连接性在提高我们对 tDCS 影响的理解方面起着重要作用。
