Ventral striatum temporal interference brain stimulation enhances the reward-positivity event-related potential and reduces anxiety
5 affiliations
- 1Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
- 2Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
- 3Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
- 4International Clinical Research Center, St. Anne's University Hospital, Brno, Czech Republic; Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Linköping University, Sweden
- 5Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA. Electronic address: [email protected]
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Temporal interference (TI) electrical stimulation is a novel neuromodulation method that can target deep brain structures to enhance the impact of behavioral techniques. We tested the feasibility of TI targeting the ventral striatum (VS) during an emotion regulation practice (breath-focused mindfulness meditation). To assess target engagement, we used electroencephalography (EEG) to measure amplitude of the reward positivity (RewP), an event-related potential (ERP) associated with cortico-striatal reward circuitry. METHODS: Nineteen healthy adults (age range: 18-36 years) received an MRI scan and two stimulation sessions during meditation: one active 8 Hz TI stimulation and one 0 Hz sham TI. Before and after meditation, they completed a reward task during EEG recording. RESULTS: = .61), but not with an attentional control-related ERP, the Cue-N200 (p = .93). Active TI, but not sham, led to a RewP increase from pre- to post-stimulation, with evidence of a sustained RewP amplitude increase at visit 2 in participants who received active TI at visit 1 (p < .001). This effect was driven by a win trial increase. Decreased negative emotionality (anxiety) was observed for active TI; emotion changes corresponded with increased RewP amplitude to win trials for only active TI. CONCLUSION: Findings show support for TI targeting VS in conjunction with meditation to elicit self-reported and neural change in emotion regulation and reward processing. Although replication is warranted, our data indicates relative precision and short-term continued effects of TI on the VS and reward-related functioning.
Related
- Temporal interference stimulation for deep brain neuromodulation in humans
- Global clinical development of transcranial temporal interference stimulation: an analysis of registered human trials
- In vivo evaluation of noninvasive temporal interference stimulation for tibial nerve-mediated bladder reflex modulation in rats
- Multipair phase-modulated temporal interference electrical stimulation combined with fMRI
- Temporal interference stimulation rescues dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra of MPTP-induced Parkinson’s disease mice via inhibition of lipid peroxidation
BibTeX
@article{ryan2026ventral,
title = {{Ventral striatum temporal interference brain stimulation enhances the reward-positivity event-related potential and reduces anxiety}},
author = {Jonathan Ryan and Timothy J. McDermott and Boris Botzanowski and Jessica R. Kubert and Samantha A. Betters and Aje Oluwagbohunmi and Summer B. Frandsen and Travis M. Fulton and Adam Williamson and Michael Tilghman Treadway and Negar Fani},
journal = {NeuroImage},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.122101},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.122101},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Ventral striatum temporal interference brain stimulation enhances the reward-positivity event-related potential and reduces anxiety
AU - Jonathan Ryan
AU - Timothy J. McDermott
AU - Boris Botzanowski
AU - Jessica R. Kubert
AU - Samantha A. Betters
AU - Aje Oluwagbohunmi
AU - Summer B. Frandsen
AU - Travis M. Fulton
AU - Adam Williamson
AU - Michael Tilghman Treadway
AU - Negar Fani
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/01
JO - NeuroImage
DO - 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.122101
UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.122101
AB - BACKGROUND: Temporal interference (TI) electrical stimulation is a novel neuromodulation method that can target deep brain structures to enhance the impact of behavioral techniques. We tested the feasibility of TI targeting the ventral striatum (VS) during an emotion regulation practice (breath-focused mindfulness meditation). To assess target engagement, we used electroencephalography (EEG) to measure amplitude of the reward positivity (RewP), an event-related potential (ERP) associated with cortico-striatal reward circuitry. METHODS: Nineteen healthy adults (age range: 18-36 years) received an MRI scan and two stimulation sessions during meditation: one active 8 Hz TI stimulation and one 0 Hz sham TI. Before and after meditation, they completed a reward task during EEG recording. RESULTS: = .61), but not with an attentional control-related ERP, the Cue-N200 (p = .93). Active TI, but not sham, led to a RewP increase from pre- to post-stimulation, with evidence of a sustained RewP amplitude increase at visit 2 in participants who received active TI at visit 1 (p < .001). This effect was driven by a win trial increase. Decreased negative emotionality (anxiety) was observed for active TI; emotion changes corresponded with increased RewP amplitude to win trials for only active TI. CONCLUSION: Findings show support for TI targeting VS in conjunction with meditation to elicit self-reported and neural change in emotion regulation and reward processing. Although replication is warranted, our data indicates relative precision and short-term continued effects of TI on the VS and reward-related functioning.
SN - 1053-8119
SN - 1095-9572
ER -