Zhang Jianxu, Yan Zilong, Kang Anshun, Ouyang Jian, Ma Lihua, Wang Xinyue, Wu Jinglong, Suo Dingjie, Funahashi Shintaro, Meng Wei, Wang Li, Zhang Jian
School of Mechatronical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China.
School of Medical Technology, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China.
Biosensors (Basel). 2025 Mar 13;15(3):185. doi: 10.3390/bios15030185.
Transcranial electrical stimulation, as a means of neural modulation, is increasingly favored by researchers. The distribution and magnitude of the electric field generated within the brain may directly affect the results of neural modulation. Therefore, it is important to clarify the change trend of the cortical electric field and the determinants of the induced electric field in the endodermis at different ages during the adult life cycle. In this study, we used SimNIBS software to perform MR image segmentation and realistic head model reconstruction on 476 individuals (aged 18 to 88 years old) and calculated the cortical electric field of four electrode montages commonly used in cognitive tasks. We divided all participants into groups by age with a span of 10 years for each group and compared the electric field distribution patterns, electric field intensities, and focalities of the cortexes and regions of interest related to cognitive tasks within groups. The degree of influence of global and local anatomical parameters on the electric field was analyzed using a stepwise regression model. The results showed that, in the cortexes and regions of interest, the variability of electric field distribution patterns was highest in adolescents (<20 years old) and elderly individuals (>80 years old). Moreover, throughout the adult lifespan, the electric field induced by transcranial electrical stimulation did not decrease linearly with age but rather presented a U-shaped pattern. In terms of the entire adult life cycle, compared with global anatomical parameters (intracranial brain tissue volume), local anatomical parameters (such as scalp or skull thickness below the electrode) have a greater impact on the amplitude of the intracranial electric field. Our research results indicated that it is necessary to consider the effects caused by different brain tissues when using transcranial electrical stimulation to modulate or treat individuals of different ages.
经颅电刺激作为一种神经调制手段，越来越受到研究人员的青睐。大脑内部产生的电场分布和强度可能直接影响神经调制的结果。因此，明确成年生命周期中不同年龄段内皮层皮质电场的变化趋势以及感应电场的决定因素非常重要。在本研究中，我们使用SimNIBS软件对476名个体（年龄在18至88岁之间）进行磁共振图像分割和真实头部模型重建，并计算了认知任务中常用的四种电极组合的皮质电场。我们将所有参与者按年龄分组，每组跨度为10年，并比较了组内与认知任务相关的皮质和感兴趣区域的电场分布模式、电场强度和聚焦度。使用逐步回归模型分析了全局和局部解剖参数对电场的影响程度。结果表明，在皮质和感兴趣区域，电场分布模式的变异性在青少年（<20岁）和老年人（>80岁）中最高。此外，在整个成年生命周期中，经颅电刺激诱导的电场并非随年龄呈线性下降，而是呈现出U形模式。就整个成年生命周期而言，与全局解剖参数（颅内脑组织体积）相比，局部解剖参数（如电极下方的头皮或颅骨厚度）对颅内电场幅度的影响更大。我们的研究结果表明，在使用经颅电刺激调节或治疗不同年龄个体时，有必要考虑不同脑组织所造成的影响。
