Transcranial random noise stimulation modulates neural processing of sensory and motor circuits – from potential cellular mechanisms to behaviour: A scoping review

Noise introduced in the human nervous system from cellular to systems levels can have a major impact on signal processing. Using transcranial stimulation, electrical noise can be added to cortical circuits to modulate neuronal activity and enhance function in the healthy brain and in neurological patients. Transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS) is a promising technique that is less well understood than other non-invasive neuromodulatory methods. The aim of the present scoping review is to collate published evidence on the effects of electrical noise at the cellular, systems, and behavioural levels, and discuss how this emerging method might be harnessed to augment perceptual and motor functioning of the human nervous system. Online databases were used to identify papers published 2008–2021 using tRNS in humans, from which we identified 70 publications focusing on sensory and motor function. Additionally, we interpret the existing evidence by referring to articles investigating the effects of noise stimulation in animal and sub-cellular models. We review physiological and behavioural findings of tRNS induced offline aftereffects and acute online benefits which manifest immediately when tRNS is applied to sensory or motor cortices. We link these results to evidence showing that activity of voltagegated sodium ion channels might be an important cellular substrate for mediating these tRNS effects. We argue that tRNS might make neural signal transmission and processing within neuronal populations more efficient, which could contribute to both (i) offline after-effects in the form of a prolonged increase in cortical excitability and (ii) acute online noise benefits when computations rely on weak inputs