Imaging human brain networks to improve the clinical efficacy of non-invasive brain stimulation

Martin V Sale; Jason B Mattingley; Andrew Zalesky; Luca Cocchi

doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.09.010

Imaging human brain networks to improve the clinical efficacy of non-invasive brain stimulation

Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2015 Oct:57:187-98. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.09.010. Epub 2015 Sep 26.

Authors

Martin V Sale¹, Jason B Mattingley², Andrew Zalesky³, Luca Cocchi⁴

Affiliations

¹ Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Queensland 4072, Australia.
² Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Queensland 4072, Australia; School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Queensland 4072, Australia.
³ Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre and Melbourne Health, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia; Melbourne School of Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia.
⁴ Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Queensland 4072, Australia. Electronic address: l.cocchi@uq.edu.au.

PMID: 26409343
DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.09.010

Abstract

The flexible integration of segregated neural processes is essential to healthy brain function. Advances in neuroimaging techniques have revealed that psychiatric and neurological disorders are characterized by anomalies in the dynamic integration of widespread neural populations. Re-establishing optimal neural activity is an important component of the treatment of such disorders. Non-invasive brain stimulation is emerging as a viable tool to selectively restore both local and widespread neural activity in patients affected by psychiatric and neurological disorders. Importantly, the different forms of non-invasive brain stimulation affect neural activity in distinct ways, which has important ramifications for their clinical efficacy. In this review, we discuss how non-invasive brain stimulation techniques influence widespread neural integration across brain regions. We suggest that the efficacy of such techniques in the treatment of psychiatric and neurological conditions is contingent on applying the appropriate stimulation paradigm to restore specific aspects of altered neural integration.

Keywords: Connectivity; Connectomics; Depression; EEG; Networks; Neurology; OCD; Psychiatry; Schizophrenia; Stroke; Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS); fMRI; rTMS; tDCS.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Brain Diseases / physiopathology
Brain Diseases / therapy*
Humans
Mental Disorders / physiopathology
Mental Disorders / therapy*
Nerve Net / physiopathology*
Neuroimaging / methods*
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation / methods*
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation / methods*