Coupling transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation and Deep Brain Stimulation in a Brain Computer Interface

Synchronized oscillations play a crucial role in neuronal circuits and their disruption is linked to various brain disorders. Traditional high-frequency deep brain stimulation (DBS) can affect neuronal oscillations, but precise manipulation of oscillatory timing between brain areas holds potential for more efficient modulation. This thesis presents a design to synchronize clocks between an active deep brain stimulator and an external transcranial electrical current stimulation system. Furthermore, a comparison between the performance of hardware and software solutions is drawn towards the aim of achieving precise timing coordination for paired-associative stimulation, which has implications for neural plasticity and distributed neural interfaces. By systematically stimulating two specific brain regions with a precisely controlled latency, this system enables to study neural plasticity and functional connectivity, with special interest in Parkinson’s disease patients affected by bradykinesia and rigidity.