Advancing clinical response characterization to frontotemporal transcranial direct current stimulation with electric field distribution in patients with schizophrenia and auditory hallucinations: a pilot study

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been proposed as a therapeutic option for treatment-resistant auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) in schizophrenia. In such cases, repeated sessions of tDCS are delivered with the anode over the left prefrontal cortex and the cathode over the left temporoparietal junction. Despite promising findings, the clinical response to tDCS is highly heterogeneous among patients. Here, we explored baseline differences between responders and nonresponders to frontotemporal tDCS using electric field modeling. We hypothesized that responders would display different tDCS-induced electric field strength in the brain areas involved in AVH compared to nonresponders. Using baseline structural MRI scans of 17 patients with schizophrenia and daily AVH who received 10 sessions of active frontotemporal tDCS, we constructed individual realistic whole brain models estimating electric field strength. Electric field maps were compared between responders (n = 6) and nonresponders to tDCS (n = 11) using an independent two-samplettest. Clinical response was defined as at least a 50% decrease of AVH 1 month after the last tDCS session. Results from the electric field map comparison showed that responders to tDCS displayed higher electric field strength in the left transverse temporal gyrus at baseline compared to nonresponders (T = 2.37;p = 0.016; 32 voxels). These preliminary findings suggested that the strength of the tDCS-induced electric field reaching the left transverse temporal gyrus could play an important role in the response to frontotemporal tDCS. In addition, this work suggests the interest of using electric field modeling to individualize tDCS and increase response rate.

Automated summary

The study investigated differences between responders and nonresponders to frontotemporal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in patients with schizophrenia, finding that responders displayed higher electric field strength in the left transverse temporal gyrus compared to nonresponders. These preliminary findings suggest the potential importance of individualized tDCS using electric field modeling to increase response rates.