Cerebellar Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation: Frequency-Specific Modulation of Human Gait.

Overview

1. Department of Sport Psychology, Institute for Sport Science, Johannes Gutenberg-University,Mainz, Germany
2. Department of Neurology, Saarland University Medical Center,Homburg, Germany
3. MySpace Lab and NeuroRehab Research Center, Service of University Neurorehabilitation (SUN), Lausanne University Hospital, Institution of Lavigny and University of Lausanne,Lausanne, Switzerland
4. Institute of Computer Science, Informatics for Medical Technology, University Augsburg,Augsburg, Germany

Abstract

Coordinated locomotion depends on rhythmic neural interactions, with the cerebellum contributing to movement timing and scaling. However, how cerebellar oscillatory dynamics influence human gait remains unclear, despite its relevance for motor learning and rehabilitation. We hypothesized two frequency-dependent effects: (i) gait-matched cerebellar transcranial alternating current stimulation (c-tACS) would produce stronger phase alignment than sham and selectively affect temporal rather than spatial gait parameters; and (ii) higher-frequency stimulation would preferentially modulate spatial gait parameters without consistent phase alignment with the ongoing locomotor rhythm. To test this, fifteen healthy adults received randomized bilateral c-tACS at their individual gait-cycle frequency (iGCF), iGCF ± 10% offsets, individual step frequency (iSF), a harmonic in alpha range (iGCF×10), 50 Hz (gamma), and sham. Head-mounted accelerometry recorded kinematics of continuous walking and a stop-and-go task. Phase synchrony between stimulation and gait periodicity was quantified using the debiased phase-locking value (dPLV). 50 Hz c-tACS increased gait velocity and stride length without altering cadence or stride time, indicating selective modulation of spatial gait parameters. In contrast, gait-matched stimulation (iGCF, iSF) produced strong stimulation-gait phase alignment but did not enhance temporal gait parameters beyond sham, arguing against entrainment-specific behavioral effects. dPLV declined with iGCF ± 10% during continuous walking, whereas a transient increase at iGCF-10% during stop-and-go was not specific to active stimulation. These findings support frequency-dependent effects of c-tACS on locomotion and refine the mechanistic understanding of how rhythmic cerebellar stimulation interacts with gait control, with potential implications for targeted neuromodulation.

Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12311-026-02037-8.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Code

The paper says that its authors' code is available on request: it was not published with the paper, so there is nothing to verify.

The paper's code and data availability statement is in the Data section.

Tracing map

A tracing map links a paper to the code its authors published: this paper has none (its code is available on request), so it has no map.

Data

No dataset and no data link were found in the paper.

Data Availability

The datasets, analysis and code generated during this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Versions

The history of this record: each version stored by the harvester or made by a correction of its authors or of the maintainers of its code, and what changed in its facts. The texts of the paper (its abstract, its availability statements) are not part of it; versions that changed only those are not listed.

Version 2, 28 September 2026

• Publisher: n/a → Springer Science+Business Media

Version 1, 27 September 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 6 authors, 4 keywords, 10 MeSH terms, 1 funder, 71 references.

Cite

This paper

Varel, M., Doppelmayr, M., Groppa, S., Popa, T., Bange, M., & Zeitner, A. (2026). Cerebellar Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation: Frequency-Specific Modulation of Human Gait. Cerebellum (London, England), 25(4), 111. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12311-026-02037-8

Similar papers

The papers with a page that share the most with this one: the tools found in their code, their categories, datasets, cited references and authors, the rarest counting most.

[1] doi:10.1126/sciadv.aeb3579

Elevating cerebellar theta oscillations boosts noninvasively induced motor plasticity.

Journal: Science advances

In common: other, 5 references

[2] doi:10.1038/s41598-026-54929-8

Predictors of deep brain stimulation response in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Journal: Scientific reports

In common: author Sergiu Groppa

[3] doi:10.1002/hbm.70425 [code]

Brain Age Estimation on T2-FLAIR Scans for Application to Multiple Sclerosis.

Journal: Human brain mapping

In common: author Sergiu Groppa

[4] doi:10.1038/s41398-026-04086-3

Hippocampal rhythm modulation via frequency-tuned trigeminal nerve stimulation.

Journal: Translational psychiatry

In common: 3 references

[5] doi:10.1162/netn.a.545 [code]

Structure-function multilayer network integration and cognition in multiple sclerosis.

Journal: Network neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.)

In common: author Sergiu Groppa

[6] doi:10.1038/s41380-026-03560-0

Optimized multichannel 4 mA vs conventional transcranial direct current stimulation for major depressive disorder: A randomized sham-controlled trial.

Journal: Molecular psychiatry

In common: other, 2 references

[7] doi:10.1038/s41467-026-75799-8 [code]

Behaviourally driven closed-loop beta-tACS enhances beta activity and motor behaviour.

Journal: Nature communications

In common: other, 2 references

[8] doi:10.1523/eneuro.0407-25.2026 [code]

Connectome-Guided Personalization of Optimal TDCS Intervention Selection in Alzheimer's Disease: A Modeling Study.

Journal: eNeuro

In common: other, 2 references

[9] doi:10.1162/imag.a.1109

Simultaneous tDCS-fMRI reveals limited and inconsistent changes in functional connectivity: Insights from a temporal dynamics study.

Journal: Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.)

In common: other, 2 references

[10] doi:10.3390/brainsci16070678

CP5-Centered Parietal HD-tACS Is Associated with Improved Performance in a Smartphone-Based Shopping Task in Older Adults: A Behavioral and EEG Investigation.

Journal: Brain sciences

In common: 2 references

Contribute

The authors of this paper can claim it, correct its record and validate its tracing map, and the maintainers of its code (its owner, or a public member of its organization) correct what it says of their repository; anyone signed in can ask for its removal. Every request goes to OSCR's own machine, which answers it; your account page follows them.

Request its removal

To ask OSCR to remove this record, the copies of its authors' scripts or its tracing map, use the removal request page: signed in, you say who you are, what to remove and why, then review and confirm the request. Published rules decide every request (how).

Discussion: questions and error reports about this paper and its code, from signed-in readers and its authors. It opens with sign-in.

Reproductions: reports from readers who ran the authors' code: what they reproduced, with which environment, commit and data. It opens with sign-in.

Activity: what happens around this paper: new versions of its record, its map's validation, discussions and reproductions. It opens with sign-in.