| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3043179 | Clinical Neurophysiology | 2014 | 10 Pages |
•Longer anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (a-tDCS) applications are not the key for prolongation of the effects.•a-tDCS lasting effects might be prolonged by repetition of shorter applications.•Repeated a-tDCS with longer intervals increase the lasting effect of a-tDCS.
ObjectiveThis study investigated the effect of rate and stimulation interval of anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (a-tDCS) on CSE and motor performance.MethodsTwelve healthy individuals participated in this study. CSE was assessed before and after five experimental conditions of one, two or three applications of 10 min of a-tDCS with an interval of 5 or 25 min. a-tDCS was applied with a constant current density of 0.016 mA/cm2. Purdue pegboard-test was selected for motor performance assessment.ResultsCompared to single 10 min stimulation, the magnitude of the within-session repeated a-tDCS induced excitability was enhanced significantly after the second stimulation was performed with an interval of 25 min, but not 5 min. However, by increasing the number of a-tDCS to three repetitions the CSE was significantly increased and lasted for 2 h with both 5 and 25 min intervals. Furthermore, CSE enhancement remained significant for up to 24 h for within session a-tDCS repetitions with 25 min intervals. Likewise, significant improvement was seen in motor performance following three times repetition with 25 min inter-stimulus intervals.ConclusionsThe results suggest that within session repeated a-tDCS with longer intervals within the lasting effects of the previous stimulations are preferable for increasing induced excitability changes with longer lasting effects. Significance: It is of particular importance to increase the a-tDCS lasting effects to consolidate the neuroplastic CSE changes.
