{
  "abstract": "Dual-site transcranial alternating current stimulation (ds-tACS) is a promising tool for causally manipulating interhemispheric communication; nevertheless, how different stimulation phase-lags selectively modulate functional connectivity (FC) remains unclear. We recruited 29 healthy participants and included 23 in the final analyses. Participants received 20 Hz ds-tACS over the bilateral primary motor cortices (M1s) using four phase-lags (0, pi/2, pi, 3pi/2) and sham stimulation, combined with recording of high-density EEG before and after stimulation. We quantified the interhemispheric FC using the debiased weighted phase-lag index. No significant differences were found in the average FC changes between overall active stimulation and sham. However, the phase-lag associated with maximum absolute FC changes varied substantially across participants. Accordingly, the assessment of phase-lag-dependency of FC using the Kullback-Leibler distance (DKL) revealed a significant phase-lag-dependent modulation of FC that was transient (limited to the first 5 s after stimulation), restricted to frequencies around the stimulation frequency (18-22 Hz), and occurred without corresponding phase-lag-dependent modulation of the spectral power. In an exploratory analysis, the modulation magnitude showed a quadratic relationship with the individual {beta}-peak FC frequency, where participants with {beta}-peak frequencies farther from the 20 Hz stimulation frequency exhibited stronger effects. These findings indicate that ds-tACS can induce time- and frequency-specific modulation of interhemispheric FC across phase-lags. Given the observed association with individual {beta}-peak connectivity frequency and the variability in the phase-lag associated with maximal FC change, our findings motivate further investigation of personalised neuromodulation protocols.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Biomedical Signal and Systems, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Twente, Enschede, the Netherlands"
  ],
  "article_type": "New results",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 7,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "S. Huertas-Penen"
    },
    {
      "name": "M. Fiene"
    },
    {
      "name": "B. de Jong"
    },
    {
      "name": "J. Hagen"
    },
    {
      "name": "T. Heida"
    },
    {
      "name": "R. J. A. van Wezel"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "B. C. Schwab"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/fv8swwp0ywad8.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.64898/2026.09.14.751522",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.14.751522v1.full",
  "id": "fv8swwp0ywad8",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.14.751522v1",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "biorxiv",
      "neuroscience"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2808|Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Studies"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7213908621",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.14.751522v1.full.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-14",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/fv8swwp0ywad8.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:23:30Z",
      "native_id": "10.64898/2026.09.14.751522",
      "source": "biorxiv",
      "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.14.751522v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "biorxiv:neuroscience",
      "subfield": "neuroscience"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Phase-lag-dependent modulation of interhemispheric β-band functional connectivity by dual-site tACS",
  "title_text": "Phase-lag-dependent modulation of interhemispheric β-band functional connectivity by dual-site tACS",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:23:30Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/fv8swwp0ywad8",
  "venue": "bioRxiv",
  "versions": []
}