Transcranial random noise stimulation of the primary visual cortex but not retina modulates visual contrast sensitivity.

Abstract

Transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS) has been shown to significantly improve visual perception. Previous studies demonstrated that tRNS delivered over cortical areas acutely enhances visual contrast detection of stimuli when tRNS intensity is optimized for the individual. However, it is currently unknown whether tRNS-induced signal enhancement could be achieved within different neural substrates along the retino-cortical pathway and whether the beneficial effect of optimal tRNS intensities can be reproduced across sessions. In 3 experimental sessions, we tested whether tRNS applied to the primary visual cortex (V1) and/or to the retina improves visual contrast detection. We first measured visual contrast detection threshold (VCT; N=24, 16 females) during tRNS delivery separately over V1 (no tRNS, 0.75, 1, 1.5mA) and over the retina (no tRNS, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3mA), determined the optimal tRNS intensities for each individual (ind-tRNS), and retested the effects of ind-tRNS within the sessions. We further investigated whether we could reproduce the ind-tRNS-induced modulation on a different session (N=19, 14 females). Finally, we tested whether the simultaneous application of ind-tRNS to the retina and V1 causes additive effects. We found that at the group level tRNS of 0.75mA decreases VCT compared to baseline when delivered to the V1. Beneficial effects of ind-tRNS could be replicated when retested within the same experimental session but not when retested in a separate session. Applying tRNS to the retina did not cause a systematic reduction of VCT, irrespective of whether the individually optimized intensity was considered or not. We also did not observe consistent additive effects of V1 and retina stimulation. Our findings demonstrate that V1 seems to be more sensitive than the retina to tRNS-induced modulation of visual contrast processing. Significance statementOur findings confirm previous evidence showing acute online benefits of tRNS of V1 on visual contrast detection in accordance with the stochastic resonance phenomenon. We further extend it, demonstrating that the optimal tRNS intensity varies among participants, but when individually tailored it can improve visual processing when re-tested within the experimental session. The tRNS-induced enhancement in visual sensitivity seems to be specific for cortical contrast processing as stimulation of the retina did not lead to systematic effects.