Comparative Modeling of Transcranial Magnetic and Electric Stimulation in Mouse, Monkey, and Human

Abstract

ABSTRACTTranscranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial electric stimulation (TES) are increasingly popular methods to noninvasively affect brain activity. However, their mechanism of action and dose-response characteristics remain under active investigation. Translational studies in animals play a pivotal role in these efforts due to a larger neuroscientific toolset enabled by invasive recordings. In order to translate knowledge gained in animal studies to humans, it is crucial to generate comparable stimulation conditions with respect to the induced electric field in the brain. Here, we conduct a finite element method (FEM) modeling study of TMS and TES electric fields in a mouse, capuchin monkey, and human model. We systematically evaluate the induced electric fields and analyze their relationship to head and brain anatomy. We find that with increasing head size, TMS-induced electric field strength first increases and then decreases according to a two-term exponential function. TES-induced electric field strength strongly decreases from smaller to larger specimen with up to 100x fold differences across species. Our results can serve as a basis to compare and match stimulation parameters across studies in animals and humans.HIGHLIGHTSTranslational research in brain stimulation should account for large differences in induced electric fields in different organismsWe simulate TMS and TES electric fields using anatomically realistic finite element models in three species: mouse, monkey, and humanTMS with a 70 mm figure-8 coil creates an approximately 2-times weaker electric field in a mouse brain than in monkey and human brains, where electric field strength is comparableTwo-electrode TES creates an approximately 100-times stronger electric field in a mouse brain and 3.5-times stronger electric field in a monkey brain than in a human brain