Increased short latency afferent inhibition after anodal transcranial direct current stimulation

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a technique for central neuromodulation, has been recently proposed as possible treatment in several neurological and psychiatric diseases. Although shifts on focal brain excitability have been proposed to explain the clinical effects of tDCS, how tDCS-induced functional changes influence cortical interneurones is still largely unknown. The assessment of short latency afferent inhibition (SLAI) of motor evoked potentials (MEPs) elicited by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), provides the opportunity to test non-invasively interneuronal cholinergic circuits in the human motor cortex. The aim of the present study was to assess whether anodal tDCS can modulate interneuronal circuits involved in SLAI. Resting motor threshold (RMT), amplitude of unconditioned MEPs and SLAI were assessed in the dominant hemisphere of 12 healthy subjects (aged 21–37) before and after anodal tDCS (primary motor cortex, 13 min, 1 mA). SLAI was assessed delivering electrical conditioning stimuli to the median nerve at the wrist prior to test TMS given at the interstimulus interval (ISI) of 2 ms. Whereas RMT and the amplitude of unconditioned MEPs did not change after anodal tDCS, SLAI significantly increased. In conclusion, anodal tDCS-induced effects depend also on the modulation of cortical interneuronal circuits. The enhancement of cortical cholinergic activity assessed by SLAI could be an important mechanism explaining anodal tDCS action in several pathological conditions.

► We studied the effect of tDCS on Short Latency Afferent Inhibition (SLAI).
► SLAI provides the opportunity to test interneuronal cholinergic circuits.
► Our results showed that anodal tDCS applied over the motor cortex enhances SLAI.
► Our findings suggest that tDCS acts on cholinergic interneuronal circuits.
► Cholinergic activity's enhancement can explain several clinical effects of tDCS.