fMRI Informed Montage Selection for Transcranial Electrical Stimulation: Frontoparietal Synchronization for Drug Cue Reactivity

BackgroundFrontoparietal network (FPN) with multiple cortical nodes is involved in executive functions. Transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) can potentially modulate interactions between these nodes using frontoparietal synchronization (FPS). Here we used fMRI and computational head models (CHMs) to inform electrode montage and dosage selection in FPS. MethodsSixty methamphetamine users completed an fMRI drug cue-reactivity task. Two sets of 4x1 HD electrodes with anode over F3 and F4 were simulated and spheres around maximum electric field in each hemisphere were defined as frontal seeds. Using frontal seeds, a task-based functional connectivity analysis was conducted based on a seed-to-whole brain generalized psychophysiological interaction (gPPI). Electrode placement for parietal sites was selected based on gPPI results. Task-based and resting-state connectivity were compared between fMRI-informed and classic F3-P3/F4-P4 montages. ResultsWhole-brain gPPI showed two significant clusters (left: 506 voxels P=0.006, right: 455 voxels P=0.016), located in the inferior parietal lobule under the CP5 and CP6 electrode location. Pair-wise ROI-based gPPI comparing informed (F3-CP5/F4-CP6) and classic (F3-P3/F4-P4) montages showed significant increased PPI and resting-state connectivity only in the informed montage. Cue-induced craving score was also correlated with left (F3-CP5) frontoparietal connectivity in the fMRI-informed montage. ConclusionThis study proposes an analytic pipeline to select electrode montage and dosage in dual site tES using CHMs and task-based connectivity. Stimulating F3-F4 can tap into both FPN and saliency network (SN) based on the montage selection. Using CHM and fMRI will be essential to navigating ample parameter space in the stimulation protocols for future tES studies. HighlightsO_LIWe demonstrated a methodology for montage selection in network-based tES C_LIO_LITask-based functional connectivity can inform dual-site tES montage selection C_LIO_LIHead models can help to induce balance tES dose in targeted brain regions C_LIO_LITargeting DLPFC with tES can tap into both saliency and frontoparietal networks C_LIO_LILower resting-state frontoparietal connectivity before cue exposure followed by a greater craving C_LI