TY - JOUR
T1 - Transcranial direct current stimulation improves isometric time to exhaustion of the knee extensors
AU - Angius, L
AU - Pageaux, B
AU - Hopker, J
AU - Marcora, S M
AU - Mauger, A R
PY - 2016/12/17
Y1 - 2016/12/17
N2 - Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can increase cortical excitability of a targeted brain area, which may affect endurance exercise performance. However, optimal electrode placement for tDCS remains unclear. We tested the effect of two different tDCS electrode montages for improving exercise performance. Nine subjects underwent a control (CON), placebo (SHAM) and two different tDCS montage sessions in a randomized design. In one tDCS session, the anodal electrode was placed over the left motor cortex and the cathodal on contralateral forehead (HEAD), while for the other montage the anodal electrode was placed over the left motor cortex and cathodal electrode above the shoulder (SHOULDER). tDCS was delivered for 10min at 2.0mA, after which participants performed an isometric time to exhaustion (TTE) test of the right knee extensors. Peripheral and central neuromuscular parameters were assessed at baseline, after tDCS application and after TTE. Heart rate (HR), ratings of perceived exertion (RPE), and leg muscle exercise-induced muscle pain (PAIN) were monitored during the TTE. TTE was longer and RPE lower in the SHOULDER condition (P<0.05). Central and peripheral parameters, and HR and PAIN did not present any differences between conditions after tDCS stimulation (P>0.05). In all conditions maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) significantly decreased after the TTE (P<0.05) while motor-evoked potential area (MEP) increased after TTE (P<0.05). These findings demonstrate that SHOULDER montage is more effective than HEAD montage to improve endurance performance, likely through avoiding the negative effects of the cathode on excitability.
AB - Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can increase cortical excitability of a targeted brain area, which may affect endurance exercise performance. However, optimal electrode placement for tDCS remains unclear. We tested the effect of two different tDCS electrode montages for improving exercise performance. Nine subjects underwent a control (CON), placebo (SHAM) and two different tDCS montage sessions in a randomized design. In one tDCS session, the anodal electrode was placed over the left motor cortex and the cathodal on contralateral forehead (HEAD), while for the other montage the anodal electrode was placed over the left motor cortex and cathodal electrode above the shoulder (SHOULDER). tDCS was delivered for 10min at 2.0mA, after which participants performed an isometric time to exhaustion (TTE) test of the right knee extensors. Peripheral and central neuromuscular parameters were assessed at baseline, after tDCS application and after TTE. Heart rate (HR), ratings of perceived exertion (RPE), and leg muscle exercise-induced muscle pain (PAIN) were monitored during the TTE. TTE was longer and RPE lower in the SHOULDER condition (P<0.05). Central and peripheral parameters, and HR and PAIN did not present any differences between conditions after tDCS stimulation (P>0.05). In all conditions maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) significantly decreased after the TTE (P<0.05) while motor-evoked potential area (MEP) increased after TTE (P<0.05). These findings demonstrate that SHOULDER montage is more effective than HEAD montage to improve endurance performance, likely through avoiding the negative effects of the cathode on excitability.
KW - Electric Stimulation
KW - Evoked Potentials, Motor/physiology
KW - Femoral Nerve/physiology
KW - Functional Laterality
KW - Heart Rate/physiology
KW - Humans
KW - Isometric Contraction/physiology
KW - Leg/physiology
KW - Male
KW - Motor Cortex/physiology
KW - Muscle Fatigue/physiology
KW - Muscle, Skeletal/physiology
KW - Perception/physiology
KW - Prefrontal Cortex/physiology
KW - Random Allocation
KW - Shoulder/physiology
KW - Single-Blind Method
KW - Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation/methods
KW - Young Adult
U2 - 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2016.10.028
DO - 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2016.10.028
M3 - Article
C2 - 27751960
VL - 339
SP - 363
EP - 375
JO - Neuroscience
JF - Neuroscience
SN - 0306-4522
ER -