Dual-hemisphere transcranial direct current stimulation improves performance in a tactile spatial discrimination task

作者：Fujimoto Shuhei; Yamaguchi Tomofumi; Otaka Yohei; Kondo Kunitsugu; Tanaka Satoshi^*

来源：Clinical Neurophysiology, 2014, 125(8): 1669-1674.

DOI：10.1016/j.clinph.2013.12.100

• Cortical plasticity
• Inter-hemispheric inhibition (IHI)
• Somatosensory cortex
• Tactile
• Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)
• Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)

Objective: The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that dual-hemisphere transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) could improve performance in a tactile spatial discriminative task, compared with uni-hemisphere or sham tDCS. %26lt;br%26gt;Methods: Nine healthy adults participated in this double-blind, sham-controlled, and cross-over design study. The performance in a grating orientation task (GOT) in the right index finger was evaluated before, during, immediately after and 30 min after the dual-hemisphere, uni-hemisphere (1 mA, 20 min), or sham tDCS (1 mA, 30 s) over S1. In the dual-hemisphere and sham conditions, anodal tDCS was applied over the left S1, and cathodal tDCS was applied over the right S1. In the uni-hemisphere condition, anodal tDCS was applied over the left S1, and cathodal tDCS was applied over the contralateral supraorbital front. %26lt;br%26gt;Results: The percentage of correct responses on the GOT during dual-hemisphere tDCS was significantly higher than that in the uni-hemisphere or sham tDCS conditions when the grating width was set to 0.75 mm (all p %26lt; 0.05). %26lt;br%26gt;Conclusions: Dual-hemisphere tDCS over S1 improved performance in a tactile spatial discrimination task in healthy volunteers. %26lt;br%26gt;Significance: Dual-hemisphere tDCS may be a useful strategy to improve sensory function in patients with sensory dysfunctions.

• 出版日期2014-8