Modulation of cortical oscillations by periodic electrical stimulation is frequency-dependent

The brain oscillations play a pivotal role in transmitting and processing the information. Periodic electrical stimulation has been proposed to shape the oscillations. However, how the periodic electrical stimulation modulates the oscillatory activities remains poorly understood. To address this question, a modified cortical network by adding the brain state information (eye-open and eye-closed states) and synaptic plasticity is employed. Constraining on eye-open state and without considering the synaptic plasticity, the numerical simulation results have shown that the network responses are strong frequency-dependent and the underlying mechanism of the network oscillations has been recognized as three typical neural phenomena, that is resonance, entrainment, and nonlinear oscillation, induced by periodic stimulation with different frequencies and amplitudes. We further prove the frequency dependency of network responses through theoretical analysis. Moreover, the impacts of the brain state have been explored. It is shown that the brain state has little impact on the network oscillatory response during stimulus and generates only a very short-lasting effect. However, the introduce of the plasticity in the cortical network makes the periodic stimulation generate obvious post- stimulus effects. Even though the stimulation is removed, the cortical network can still maintain the resonance, entrainment, and nonlinear oscillatory activities. The frequency- dependent network response mechanism provides a profound understanding of neural information communication theory induced by the periodic stimulus. (C) 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.