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LANDSCAPE: A structural MRI-based geometric model for transcranial brain stimulation
Hanna Lu, Jing Li, Li Zhang, Sandra Sau Man Chan, Linda Chiu Wa Lam
Presenting author:
Hanna Lu
Objective: MRI-guided transcranial brain stimulation is increasingly used as a promising technology in clinical neuroscience and neurorehabilitation. Scalp to cortex distance (SCD), as a geometric measure, has great impact on the focality and strength of stimulation-induced electric field. This study aimed to examine the region-specific SCD in the context of brain atrophy.
Methods: We launched an MRI-based project named as “Localized Analysis of Normalized Distance from Scalp to Cortex and Personalized Evaluation” (LANDSCAPE). Structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans from 643 normal ageing adults were drawn from the Cambridge Centre for Ageing and Neuroscience (Cam-CAN). We localized the left M1 using the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) coordinates as [x=-42, y=-16, z=68], and left DLPFC using the MNI coordinates as [x=-46, y=45, z=38]. Computational head model was developed to simulate the impact of SCD on the electric field.
Results: We found age-related increased SCD in the left DLPFC (p < 0.001), but not M1 (p = 0.134). The electric field induced by stimulation was consequently decreased with the increased SCD across normal aging individuals.
Conclusion: By using a localized and normalized measurement, age has differential impacts on the SCDs of left DLPFC and M1. The findings suggest that it is important to be aware of region-specific geometric measures when conducting MRI-guided transcranial brain stimulation in individuals with old age.