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| Brain stimulation techniques such as tDCS or TMS play a growing role in the treatment of neurological disorders. However the thorough understanding of the cellular and network mechanisms recruited by these strategies is missing. We use the slow oscillatory activity from the cortical network (Steriade et al (1993) J Neurosci 13, 3252 and Sanchez-Vives, M. V. \& McCormick, D. A. (2000) Nat Neurosci 3, 1027) as a model of a relatively regular activity amenable to be modulated by electric fields (Frohlich, F. \& McCormick, D. A. (2010) Neuron 67, 129). To investigate the underlying mechanisms that lead to changes in network activity we applied DC electric fields in vitro to active brain slices. We find that the DC fields effects are limited to specific aspects that characterize slow oscillations and they are highly dependent on the initial activity. Considering the high complexity and non-linear dynamics of the involved networks, the linearity of the changes that we observe in some specific parameters provide an operational window that could lead to an online control through a closed-loop system, a solution with wide clinical implications.
Supported by Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (BFU2011-27094) EU PF7 FET CORTICONIC contract 600806. |
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