MINI REVIEW article
Front. Neurosci.
Sec. Translational Neuroscience
Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnins.2025.1609679
Modulating Excitation/Inhibition Balance through tES: Physiological Mechanisms in Animal Models
Provisionally accepted
Marta Estévez-Rodríguez
Guillermo Sánchez-Garrido Campos
Ángela M ZafraIsabel Cordones
Javier Márquez-Ruiz*- Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Cell Biology, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Sevilla, Spain
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The balance between excitatory and inhibitory (E/I) activity is a fundamental property of neural circuits, ensuring precise information processing and preventing pathological states such as hyperexcitability or network silencing. Disruptions in this balance have been linked to several neurological and psychiatric disorders, including epilepsy, autism, and schizophrenia. Transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) can modulate the E/I balance through mechanisms that affect synaptic plasticity, neurotransmitter systems, and network synchronization. The main tES modalities-transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS), and transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS)-operate through distinct physiological principles, enabling the modulation of neuronal excitability and oscillatory dynamics. Animal models offer controlled experimental conditions to study the effects of tES on E/I regulation at the cellular, synaptic, and network levels. Preclinical research has revealed polarity-dependent plasticity with tDCS, frequency-specific entrainment with tACS, and GABAergic modulation with tRNS. These findings are essential for validating computational models and refining stimulation protocols. Future studies should integrate multimodal technologies to enhance the translational relevance of tES and develop personalized neuromodulation strategies targeting E/I imbalance in brain disorders.
Keywords: transcranial electrical stimulation (TES), excitation-inhibition balance, tACS (transcranial alternating current stimulation), tRNS (transcranial random noise stimulation), tDCS (transcranial direct current stimulation), synaptic plasticity, Animal Models, Translational Neuroscience
Received: 10 Apr 2025; Accepted: 24 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Estévez-Rodríguez, Sánchez-Garrido Campos, Zafra, Cordones and Márquez-Ruiz. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Javier Márquez-Ruiz, Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Cell Biology, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Sevilla, Spain
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