28.05.2021

New publication "Progress in Brain Research" (2021 Elsevier)

Cortical current density magnitudes during transcranial direct current stimulation correlate with skull thickness in children, adolescent and young adults.

Individual volume conductor models of representatives for the different age groups. The lateral cut opens the view of the inner layers, light and dark gray patches represent the stimulation electrodes. Averaged current density maps for each age group on a template brain surface reveal intensity differences for consistent stimulation parameters.

Transcranial direct current stimulation protocols are often applied with a fixed parameter set to all subjects participating in an interventional study. This might lead to considerable effect variation in inhomogeneous subject groups or when transferring stimulation protocols to different age groups.
The aim of this study was to evaluate magnitude differences of the electric current density distribution on the gray matter surface in children, adolescent and adults in correlation with the individual volume conductor geometry.

We generated individual six compartment finite element models from structural magnetic resonance images and determined the skull thickness in the models as Euclidean distance between the surface of the cerebrospinal fluid compartment and outer skull boundary. For tDCS simulations, the resulting current density was analyzed on the gray matter surface.
Our results demonstrate higher cortical current density magnitudes in children compared to adults for a given tDCS current strength.
In conclusion, we underline the importance of age-dependent and individual models in tDCS simulations.

Alexander Hunold, Jens Haueisen, Christine M. Freitag, Michael Siniatchkin, Vera Moliadze:
Cortical current density magnitudes during transcranial direct current stimulation correlate with skull thickness in children, adolescent and young adults
Progress in Brain Research, Elsevier 2020, ISSN 0079-6123

https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1d7wHI6Wm7Egi

https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.pbr.2021.01.010


Contact: Alexander Hunold, Prof. Dr.‐Ing. Jens Haueisen