The influence of white matter lesions on the electric field in transcranial electric stimulation
Background: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a promising tool to enhance therapeutic efforts, for instance, after a stroke. The achieved stimulation effects exhibit high inter-subject variability, primarily driven by perturbations of the induced electric field (EF). Differences are...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2022-01-01
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| Series: | NeuroImage: Clinical |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221315822200136X |
| _version_ | 1818466479414181888 |
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| author | Benjamin Kalloch Konstantin Weise Leonie Lampe Pierre-Louis Bazin Arno Villringer Mario Hlawitschka Bernhard Sehm |
| author_facet | Benjamin Kalloch Konstantin Weise Leonie Lampe Pierre-Louis Bazin Arno Villringer Mario Hlawitschka Bernhard Sehm |
| author_sort | Benjamin Kalloch |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a promising tool to enhance therapeutic efforts, for instance, after a stroke. The achieved stimulation effects exhibit high inter-subject variability, primarily driven by perturbations of the induced electric field (EF). Differences are further elevated in the aging brain due to anatomical changes such as atrophy or lesions. Informing tDCS protocols by computer-based, individualized EF simulations is a suggested measure to mitigate this variability. Objective: While brain anatomy in general and specifically atrophy as well as stroke lesions are deemed influential on the EF in simulation studies, the influence of the uncertainty in the change of the electrical properties of the white matter due to white matter lesions (WMLs) has not been quantified yet. Methods: A group simulation study with 88 subjects assigned into four groups of increasing lesion load was conducted. Due to the lack of information about the electrical conductivity of WMLs, an uncertainty analysis was employed to quantify the variability in the simulation when choosing an arbitrary conductivity value for the lesioned tissue. Results: The contribution of WMLs to the EF variance was on average only one tenth to one thousandth of the contribution of the other modeled tissues. While the contribution of the WMLs significantly increased (p≪.01) in subjects exhibiting a high lesion load compared to low lesion load subjects, typically by a factor of 10 and above, the total variance of the EF didnot change with the lesion load. Conclusion: Our results suggest that WMLs do not perturb the EF globally and can thus be omitted when modeling subjects with low to medium lesion load. However, for high lesion load subjects, the omission of WMLs may yield less robust local EF estimations in the vicinity of the lesioned tissue. Our results contribute to the efforts of accurate modeling of tDCS for treatment planning. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T20:58:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-59cb033b9125434fbc9b3359e781895e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2213-1582 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T20:58:59Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | NeuroImage: Clinical |
| spelling | doaj.art-59cb033b9125434fbc9b3359e781895e2022-12-22T02:30:13ZengElsevierNeuroImage: Clinical2213-15822022-01-0135103071The influence of white matter lesions on the electric field in transcranial electric stimulationBenjamin Kalloch0Konstantin Weise1Leonie Lampe2Pierre-Louis Bazin3Arno Villringer4Mario Hlawitschka5Bernhard Sehm6Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Department of Neurology, Leipzig, Germany; Leipzig University of Applied Science, Faculty of Computer Science and Media, Leipzig, Germany; Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Methods and Development Group “Brain Networks”, Leipzig, Germany; Technische Universität Ilmenau, Instiute of Biomedical Engineering and Informatics, Ilmenau, Germany; Corresponding author at: Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstr. 1a, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany.Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Methods and Development Group “Brain Networks”, Leipzig, Germany; Technische Universität Ilmenau, Advanced Electromagnetics Group, Ilmenau, GermanyMax Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Department of Neurology, Leipzig, GermanyMax Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Department of Neurology, Leipzig, Germany; University of Amsterdam, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsMax Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Department of Neurology, Leipzig, GermanyLeipzig University of Applied Science, Faculty of Computer Science and Media, Leipzig, GermanyMax Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Department of Neurology, Leipzig, Germany; Department of Neurology, Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, GermanyBackground: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a promising tool to enhance therapeutic efforts, for instance, after a stroke. The achieved stimulation effects exhibit high inter-subject variability, primarily driven by perturbations of the induced electric field (EF). Differences are further elevated in the aging brain due to anatomical changes such as atrophy or lesions. Informing tDCS protocols by computer-based, individualized EF simulations is a suggested measure to mitigate this variability. Objective: While brain anatomy in general and specifically atrophy as well as stroke lesions are deemed influential on the EF in simulation studies, the influence of the uncertainty in the change of the electrical properties of the white matter due to white matter lesions (WMLs) has not been quantified yet. Methods: A group simulation study with 88 subjects assigned into four groups of increasing lesion load was conducted. Due to the lack of information about the electrical conductivity of WMLs, an uncertainty analysis was employed to quantify the variability in the simulation when choosing an arbitrary conductivity value for the lesioned tissue. Results: The contribution of WMLs to the EF variance was on average only one tenth to one thousandth of the contribution of the other modeled tissues. While the contribution of the WMLs significantly increased (p≪.01) in subjects exhibiting a high lesion load compared to low lesion load subjects, typically by a factor of 10 and above, the total variance of the EF didnot change with the lesion load. Conclusion: Our results suggest that WMLs do not perturb the EF globally and can thus be omitted when modeling subjects with low to medium lesion load. However, for high lesion load subjects, the omission of WMLs may yield less robust local EF estimations in the vicinity of the lesioned tissue. Our results contribute to the efforts of accurate modeling of tDCS for treatment planning.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221315822200136XTranscranial electrical stimulationTranscranial direct current stimulationWhite matter lesionsWhite matter hyperintensitiesUncertainty analysisAging effects |
| spellingShingle | Benjamin Kalloch Konstantin Weise Leonie Lampe Pierre-Louis Bazin Arno Villringer Mario Hlawitschka Bernhard Sehm The influence of white matter lesions on the electric field in transcranial electric stimulation NeuroImage: Clinical Transcranial electrical stimulation Transcranial direct current stimulation White matter lesions White matter hyperintensities Uncertainty analysis Aging effects |
| title | The influence of white matter lesions on the electric field in transcranial electric stimulation |
| title_full | The influence of white matter lesions on the electric field in transcranial electric stimulation |
| title_fullStr | The influence of white matter lesions on the electric field in transcranial electric stimulation |
| title_full_unstemmed | The influence of white matter lesions on the electric field in transcranial electric stimulation |
| title_short | The influence of white matter lesions on the electric field in transcranial electric stimulation |
| title_sort | influence of white matter lesions on the electric field in transcranial electric stimulation |
| topic | Transcranial electrical stimulation Transcranial direct current stimulation White matter lesions White matter hyperintensities Uncertainty analysis Aging effects |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221315822200136X |
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