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Blanpain LT, Cole ER, Chen E, Park JK, Walelign MY, Gross RE, Cabaniss BT, Willie JT, Singer AC. Multisensory flicker modulates widespread brain networks and reduces interictal epileptiform discharges. Nat Commun 2024; 15:3156. [PMID: 38605017 PMCID: PMC11009358 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47263-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2023] [Accepted: 03/26/2024] [Indexed: 04/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Modulating brain oscillations has strong therapeutic potential. Interventions that both non-invasively modulate deep brain structures and are practical for chronic daily home use are desirable for a variety of therapeutic applications. Repetitive audio-visual stimulation, or sensory flicker, is an accessible approach that modulates hippocampus in mice, but its effects in humans are poorly defined. We therefore quantified the neurophysiological effects of flicker with high spatiotemporal resolution in patients with focal epilepsy who underwent intracranial seizure monitoring. In this interventional trial (NCT04188834) with a cross-over design, subjects underwent different frequencies of flicker stimulation in the same recording session with the effect of sensory flicker exposure on local field potential (LFP) power and interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs) as primary and secondary outcomes, respectively. Flicker focally modulated local field potentials in expected canonical sensory cortices but also in the medial temporal lobe and prefrontal cortex, likely via resonance of stimulated long-range circuits. Moreover, flicker decreased interictal epileptiform discharges, a pathological biomarker of epilepsy and degenerative diseases, most strongly in regions where potentials were flicker-modulated, especially the visual cortex and medial temporal lobe. This trial met the scientific goal and is now closed. Our findings reveal how multi-sensory stimulation may modulate cortical structures to mitigate pathological activity in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lou T Blanpain
- Department of Neurosurgery, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, Graduate Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology & Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Eric R Cole
- Department of Neurosurgery, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology & Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Emily Chen
- Department of Neurosurgery, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - James K Park
- Department of Neurosurgery, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Michael Y Walelign
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Robert E Gross
- Department of Neurosurgery, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Departments of Neurosurgery and Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick and New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ, USA
| | - Brian T Cabaniss
- Department of Neurology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Jon T Willie
- Departments of Neurological Surgery, Neurology, Psychiatry, and Biomedical Engineering, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA.
| | - Annabelle C Singer
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, Graduate Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
- Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology & Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
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