Modulation of functional connectivity with transcranial direct current stimulation

Abstract

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a noninvasive brain stimulation tool suited to alter cortical excitability and activity via application of direct currents. The long-lasting synaptic modifications induced by this stimulation technique have been shown to result in behavioral functional improvements. This might be related to tDCS-induced modulations of associations among populations of neurons which improve the functional connectivity between local and segregated cortical areas involved in the respective functional networks. In this chapter, we describe the effects of tDCS-induced neuroplasticity on human brain functional networks at the large-scale level, and how different functional connectivity techniques might be used to track for such induced alterations.