State-Dependent Effect Of Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (Tacs) On Motor Skill Consolidation

Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) recently emerged as a tool that can directly interact with ongoing cortical oscillations. Electrophysiological studies suggest that the effect of tACS applied at alpha frequency (8-12Hz) was dependent on the prestimulation alpha power. Increase in encephalogram (EEG) alpha power and magnetoencephalogram (MEG) phase coherence was only observed when the eyes are open (low alpha power) and not when the eyes are closed (high alpha power). Previous studies have shown that motor cortex tACS at alpha frequency facilitate the acquisition and early consolidation of implicit motor learning in healthy young subjects.