Personalized temporal interference stimulation targeting striatum reduces functional stability and dynamic connectivity variability in the sensorimotor network.

Abstract

Background: Functional stability within brain networks, particularly the sensorimotor network (SMN), is crucial for coherent motor control. Temporal Interference (TI) stimulation offers a non-invasive method to modulate deep brain structures like the striatum, yet its impact on dynamic functional stability across motor networks remains largely unexplored.

Methods: Twenty-six healthy male participants separately underwent TI stimulation and Sham stimulation in a crossover, double-blind, randomized controlled trial with counterbalanced protocol. resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) was acquired before and during the stimulation. A total of 20 min TI stimulation (10 mA, Δf = 20 Hz) was applied to the right striatum using personalized electrode montages optimized. Dynamic functional connectivity (dFC) was computed using a sliding-window approach. Voxel-wise functional stability across the whole brain was quantified by Kendall's concordance coefficient of voxel-to-voxel dFC. Seed-based dFC variability in the right striatum was measured as the standard deviation of dFC across windows.

Results: (1) Functional stability: TI stimulation significantly decreased functional stability in bilateral SMA regions (predominantly SMA proper, with parts of pre-SMA) compared to Sham and baseline conditions (P < 0.01). (2) Dynamic functional connectivity: TI stimulation reduced dFC variability between the right striatum and left SMA region (predominantly SMA proper, with parts of pre-SMA) compared to baseline (P < 0.01). (3) Safety: No adverse cognitive effects or side effects were observed, with good blinding effectiveness maintained throughout the study.

Conclusion: Our findings indicate that TI stimulation targeting the striatum effectively modulates sensorimotor network stability and dFC variability within the cortico-striatal pathway, highlighting its potential as a non-invasive neuromodulation approach for motor network disorders.

Clinical trial registration: [www.chictr.org.cn;], identifier [ChiCTR2500098699].