Seminar on Transsynaptic Signal Propagation and Interference for Noninvasive Modulation of Deep Brain Activity
IEEE Norther Jersey Section RAS and SMC Chapter Seminar
Transsynaptic Signal Propagation and Interference for Noninvasive Modulation of Deep Brain Activity
Dr. Qi (Edward) Kang
Department of Biomedical Engineering
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Time: 9am, ECE Conference Room, NJIT
Online link:
https://njit-edu.zoom.us/j/9735966282?pwd=QlZtZFlOZ2FMZjlXemQwNmVUci9yUT09
Abstract: Currently, transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) is considered one of the most widely applied and frequently used non-invasive brain stimulation techniques. However, within tES, transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) is fundamentally limited by the rapid attenuation of electric fields with depth, which restricts its ability to directly modulate deep brain structures. This talk discusses a shift from a stimulation-based perspective to a signal propagation framework, where neural activity is controlled through transsynaptic pathways. Using in vivo recordings in anesthetized rats, we demonstrate that cortical tACS entrains Purkinje cells in the cerebellar cortex, and that this activity propagates through cerebellar nuclei to modulate neurons in the motor thalamus. The resulting responses exhibit frequency-dependent tuning, phase locking, and characteristic transitions between unimodal and bimodal spiking distributions, indicating structured signal transmission across multiple synaptic stages. Building on this mechanism, we introduce an electrophysiological interference (EI) paradigm in which independently driven cortical inputs interact at downstream neural populations through synaptic integration rather than through direct electric field superposition. Our results show that deep brain activity can be modulated in a pathway-specific and frequency-dependent manner without direct stimulation of the target region.
Biography: Qi Kang (Member, IEEE) received his B.S. degree in 2013 from Ningxia Institute of Science and Technology, M.S. degree in 2018 from New York Institute of Technology, Ph.D. degree in 2025 from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He is currently a postdoctoral researcher at NJIT in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. His research focuses on noninvasive neural modulation of motor systems using electrical stimulation techniques. He has published many papers in this research areas and a frequent reviewer of several journals and conferences.
Host: Mengchu Zhou, zhou@njit.edu
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- Newark, New Jersey
- United States
- Starts 13 April 2026 04:00 AM UTC
- Ends 13 May 2026 03:00 AM UTC
- No Admission Charge