Opportunities and obstacles in non-invasive brain stimulation

Jake Toth; Danielle Lauren Kurtin; Méadhbh Brosnan; Mahnaz Arvaneh

doi:10.3389/fnhum.2024.1385427

Opportunities and obstacles in non-invasive brain stimulation

Front Hum Neurosci. 2024 Mar 18:18:1385427. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2024.1385427. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Jake Toth¹, Danielle Lauren Kurtin², Méadhbh Brosnan^{3

4

5

6}, Mahnaz Arvaneh¹

Affiliations

¹ Automatic Control and Systems Engineering, Neuroscience Institute, Insigneo Institute, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom.
² Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
³ School of Psychology, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
⁴ Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
⁵ Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
⁶ Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health and School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Abstract

Non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) is a complex and multifaceted approach to modulating brain activity and holds the potential for broad accessibility. This work discusses the mechanisms of the four distinct approaches to modulating brain activity non-invasively: electrical currents, magnetic fields, light, and ultrasound. We examine the dual stochastic and deterministic nature of brain activity and its implications for NIBS, highlighting the challenges posed by inter-individual variability, nebulous dose-response relationships, potential biases and neuroanatomical heterogeneity. Looking forward, we propose five areas of opportunity for future research: closed-loop stimulation, consistent stimulation of the intended target region, reducing bias, multimodal approaches, and strategies to address low sample sizes.

Keywords: FUS; TMS; TUS; brain stimulation; neurotechnology; tDCS; tES; tPBM.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This research was supported by the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Doctoral Training Partnership [grant number EP/M508135/1].