PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Greg Kronberg
AU  - Asif Rahman
AU  - Lucas C. Parra
AU  - Marom Bikson
TI  - Direct current stimulation boosts Hebbian plasticity in vitro
AID  - 10.1101/562322
DP  - 2019 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 562322
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/06/18/562322.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/06/18/562322.full
AB  - There is evidence that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can improve learning performance. Arguably, this effect is related to long term potentiation (LTP), but the precise mechanisms remain unknown. Here we studied the effects of direct current stimulation applied during the induction of LTP in rat hippocampal slices. Direct current stimulation enhanced LTP, but only at synapses that were undergoing plasticity. When different synaptic pathways cooperated to produce LTP, direct current stimulation enhanced this cooperation. Further slice experiments and computer simulations support a model where polarization of postsynaptic pyramidal neurons drives these plasticity effects through endogenous Hebbian mechanisms. The effects of direct current stimulation therefore inherit Hebbian properties, such as pathway specificity and associativity. These results suggest that tDCS can enhance associative learning, and remain functionally specific by interacting with endogenous plasticity mechanisms. We propose that clinical tDCS should be paired with tasks that induce plasticity to harness this phenomenon.