# Traveling Wave Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation for the Control of Large-Scale Brain Networks

> **NIH NIH RF1** · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · 2020 · $2,420,541

## Abstract

Abstract
Transcranial alternating current stimulation (TACS) non-invasively alters neuroelectric activity in the human
brain by applying weak, time-varying electric currents to the scalp. It is increasingly being explored as a
therapeutic intervention for various brain disorders by affecting pathological oscillatory neural activity. Despite
its increasing popularity and rapidly growing literature, the basic physiological mechanisms of TACS are still
not well understood. This has hindered the development of principled TACS protocols with high spatio-
temporal precision to affect communication between large-scale brain networks.
Here, we propose to develop and validate a new TACS protocol to induce a “traveling wave” electric field in the
brain to manipulate cortico-cortical synchronization. For this, we will leverage single unit recordings in frontal-
parietal regions in non-human primates which allow to record and recover neural activity during TACS. We will
(1) develop a TACS protocol that can induce precise phase differences across distinct brain regions in a
stimulation frequency of interest. We hypothesize that this will lead to a local alignment of spiking with respect
to the local electric field phase. Through the simultaneous measurement of TACS electric fields and single-unit
activity, we will determine how spike timing is altered across remote brain regions with varying stimulation
phase. Accompanying these efforts (2), we will develop computational models to predict the physiological
response to our traveling wave TACS protocol. We will combine electric field simulations with realistic neuron
models with ongoing synaptic activity to simulate the effect of TACS on connected brain regions. This will allow
us to optimize stimulation protocols based on a principled understanding of the underlying biophysics and
physiology. Finally (3), in order to translate such novel stimulation protocols into new therapeutic interventions
for mental health disorders, we will study the effects of traveling wave TACS on a N-back working memory
task. These experiments will be conducted in a population of surgical epilepsy patients allowing the unique
possibility to perform invasive electrophysiological recordings during the task and TACS. All these efforts
combined will result in a new non-invasive stimulation method to affect the oscillatory coupling of large-scale
brain networks, needed for new treatment options for psychiatric disorders.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10107530
- **Project number:** 1RF1MH124909-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
- **Principal Investigator:** Alexander Opitz
- **Activity code:** RF1 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $2,420,541
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-14 → 2025-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10107530

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10107530, Traveling Wave Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation for the Control of Large-Scale Brain Networks (1RF1MH124909-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10107530. Licensed CC0.

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