Oscillotherapeutics – Time-targeted interventions in epilepsy and beyond. (March 2020) - Takeuchi, Yuichi
Highlights: Neurological and psychiatric disorders have oscillation disturbances in common. Interfering with physiological oscillations may reveal disease mechanisms. Intervention or modulation of pathological oscillations may alleviate symptoms. A time-targeted focused transcranial electrical stimulation (TES) has emerged. Devices for the time- and space-targeted TES are under development. Abstract: Oscillatory brain activities support many physiological functions from motor control to cognition. Disruptions of the normal oscillatory brain activities are commonly observed in neurological and psychiatric disorders including epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, anxiety/trauma-related disorders, major depressive disorders, and drug addiction. Therefore, these disorders can be considered as common oscillation defects despite having distinct behavioral manifestations and genetic causes. Recent technical advances of neuronal activity recording and analysis have allowed us to study the pathological oscillations of each disorder as a possible biomarker of symptoms. Furthermore, recent advances in brain stimulation technologies enable time- and space-targeted interventions of the pathological oscillations of both neurological disorders and psychiatric disorders as possible targets for regulating their symptoms.