A mini-review: recent advancements in temporal interference stimulation in modulating brain function and behavior

Abstract

Numerous studies have assessed the effect of Temporal Interference (TI) on human performance. However, a comprehensive literature review has not yet been conducted. Therefore, this review aimed to search PubMed and Web of Science databases for TI-related literature and analyze the findings. We analyzed studies involving preclinical, human, and computer simulations, and then discussed the mechanism and safety of TI. Finally, we identified the gaps and outlined potential future directions. We believe that TI is a promising technology for the treatment of neurological movement disorders, due to its superior focality, steerability, and tolerability compared to traditional electrical stimulation. However, human experiments have yielded fewer and inconsistent results, thus animal and simulation experiments are still required to perfect stimulation protocols for human trials.

Stimulation of Neurons and Astrocytes via Temporally Interfering Electric Fields

“…However, the low-frequency interference field of the resulting beat frequency Δf has the potential to influence neuronal transmembrane potential (Bikson et al, 2004; Deans et al, 2007; Karimi et al, 2019). Therefore, TIS has recently drawn attention from researchers because it could offer new ways of modulating the neuronal systems and treating neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and chronic pain (Grossman et al, 2018; Guo et al, 2023; Mirzakhalili et al, 2020; Opitz and Tyler, 2017; Rampersad et al, 2019; Song et al, 2021; Zhu and Yin, 2023). Thus far, TIS has been demonstrated using computational studies and in vivo applications with rodents (Carmona-Barrón et al, 2023; Grossman et al, 2017) and human subjects (Ma et al, 2022; Violante et al, 2023; Zhu et al, 2022).…”

Electric field temporal interference stimulation of neurons in vitro

“…17–20 Therefore, TIS has recently drawn attention from researchers as it could offer new ways of modulating the neuronal systems and treating neurological conditions such as Parkinson's disease and chronic pain. 21–27 So far, TIS has been demonstrated using computational studies 23,25,28–31 and in vivo applications with rodents 1,32 and human subjects. 6,7,33 However, before our work, TIS had not been tested with in vitro cell cultures, where the effects of electrical field interference (EFI) on neuronal cells on chip and their interactions could be assessed more in detail.…”