Temporal Interference Stimulation on the Nucleus Accumbens Modulating Liking and Wanting

Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre 

Reward, not only elicits positive emotions (liking), but also generates consummatory behaviour (wanting) (Berridge et al., 2009). Neural studies have indicated the nucleus accumbens (NAc) plays an important role in reward-induced pleasure and motivation (Berridge & Robinson, 2016). However, due to the reliance on neuroimaging methods in existing research and the lack of studies directly stimulated the NAc in healthy individuals, the causal relationship between reward and the NAc remains unclear. Temporal interference stimulation (TIS), a novel non-invasive technique (Grossman et al., 2017), enables selective stimulation of deep brain regions like the NAc without affecting the overlying cortex. This study employs TIS to investigate the direct causal relationship between the NAc and reward, and further explore the dissociation between liking and wanting.