Impact of reduced channel coordinated reset stimulation on the desynchronization of plastic neuronal networks

Abstract Excessive neuronal synchrony is linked to several neurological disorders, including Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy. Coordinated reset (CR) stimulation induces desynchronization of abnormal synchrony and reduces synaptic weights. This reduction may enable plastic neural networks to unlearn abnormal synaptic connectivity patterns, resulting in long-lasting desynchronization that persists after stimulation ceases. Both acute and long-lasting desynchronization have been observed in animal experiments and human clinical studies using invasive electrical CR brain stimulation via implanted electrodes, as well as non-invasive sensory (acoustic and vibrotactile) CR stimulation. CR is a multichannel stimulation technique that delivers spatio-temporal stimulus patterns through multiple ( n ) channels, typically activating each channel once per CR cycle (regular, all-channel CR). To further minimize potential adverse effects from prolonged electrical brain stimulation, we investigate low-intensity, reduced versions of CR, where only a subset of channels ( m -out-of- n ) is activated in each cycle. Using a model network of leaky integrate-and-fire neurons with distance-dependent connectivity and spike-timing-dependent plasticity, our simulation results indicate that desynchronization effects depend on stimulus amplitude and frequency. m -out-of- n channel CR requires higher amplitudes than all-channel CR at low frequencies but lower amplitudes at high frequencies, making it more efficient at high frequencies as it achieves desynchronization with less total stimulus current. These findings provide clinically testable hypotheses for future studies, such as in Parkinson’s patients receiving reduced m -out-of- n CR deep brain stimulation.