Influence of anisotropic conductivity in the skull and white matter on transcranial direct current stimulation via an anatomically realistic finite element head model
Open accessAbstract
To establish safe and efficient transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), it is of particular importance to understand the electrical effects of tDCS in the brain. Since the current density (CD) and electric field (EF) in the brain generated by tDCS depend on various factors including complex head geometries and electrical tissue properties, in this work, we investigated the influence of anisotropic conductivity in the skull and white matter (WM) on tDCS via a 3D anatomically realistic finite element head model. We systematically incorporated various anisotropic conductivity ratios into the skull and WM. The effects of anisotropic tissue conductivity on the CD and EF were subsequently assessed through comparisons to the conventional isotropic solutions. Our results show that the anisotropic skull conductivity significantly affects the CD and EF distribution: there is a significant reduction in the ratio of the target versus non-target total CD and EF on the order of 12-14%. In contrast, the WM anisotropy does not significantly influence the CD and EF on the targeted cortical surface, only on the order of 1-3%. However, the WM anisotropy highly alters the spatial distribution of both the CD and EF inside the brain. This study shows that it is critical to incorporate anisotropic conductivities in planning of tDCS for improved efficacy and safety.
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White matter anisotropy has been shown to influence the electric field distribution in the brain in electroconvulsive therapy and transcranial direct current stimulation.
“However, white matter anisotropy has been shown to influence the electric field distribution in the brain in related techniques such as electroconvulsive therapy (Lee et al 2011) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) (Shahid et al 2013, 2014, Suh et al 2012), and is expected to affect TTFields distribution in the brain, as well.”
From The electric field distribution in the brain during TTFields therapy and its dependence on tissue dielectric properties and anatomy: a computational study (2015) · cites this paper as Suh et al 2012
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References 60 · Cited by 84
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Oh S H, Lee S Y, Cho M H, Kim T-S and Kim I H 2006 Electrical conductivity estimation from diffusion tensor and t2: a silk yarn study Proc. Int. Soc. Magn. Reson. Med. 14 3034
- Authors
- Suh, H. S., Lee, W. H., & Kim, T.-S.
- Affiliations
- Kyung Hee University (KR)
- Columbia University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Kim, Tae-Seong
- ORCID
- Kim, Tae-Seong
- Venue
- Physics in Medicine and Biology
- Publisher
- IOP Publishing
- Published
- 2012-10-09
- Volume
- 57
- Issue
- 21
- Pages
- 6961-6980
- ISSN
- 0031-9155 (ISSN-L)
- 1361-6560
- OpenAlex
- W2060144955
- Cited by
- 84
- References
- 60
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 4.34
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Physics in Medicine and Biology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Research Foundation (2011-0029485)
- National Research Foundation of Korea
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Advanced Neuroimaging Techniques and Applications
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neural Engineering
- Keywords
- transcranial direct current stimulation, anisotropic conductivity, skull conductivity, white matter anisotropy, current density distribution, electric field distribution, finite element head model, tissue electrical properties
- MeSH terms
- Brain, Electric Conductivity, Electric Stimulation, Head, Humans, Models, Anatomic, Skull, Linear Models, Anisotropy, Finite Element Analysis, Diffusion Tensor Imaging
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