Transcutaneous spinal direct current stimulation shows no effect on paired stimulation suppression of the somatosensory cortex

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 10; no. 1; pp. 22010 - 9
• Main Authors: Bettmann, Jan H., Meyer-Frießem, Christine H., Schweizer, Lauren M., Schlaffke, Lara, Zahn, Peter K., Tegenthoff, Martin, Höffken, Oliver
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 15.12.2020; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 631/378; 692/617; Bone surgery; Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory - physiology; Excitability; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Information processing; Male; multidisciplinary; Neuromodulation; Reaction Time - physiology; Scalp; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Sensory integration; Somatosensory cortex; Somatosensory Cortex - physiology; Somatosensory evoked potentials; Spinal cord; Spine - physiology; Thorax; Tibial nerve; Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation; Vertebrae; Young Adult
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-79131-2

Transcutaneous spinal direct current stimulation (tsDCS) is a safe and convenient method of neuromodulation. It has been proven to alter sensory processing at cervicomedullary level by amplitude changes of the P30 response of tibial nerve somatosensory evoked potentials (TN SEPs). With knowledge that tsDCS affects cortical circuits, we hypothesized that tsDCS may also affect intracortical excitability of the somatosensory cortex assessed by paired stimulation suppression (PSS). Fourteen healthy men were included in this prospective, single-blinded, placebo-controlled crossover study. Single (SS) and paired stimulation (PS) TN SEPs were recorded over the scalp before, immediately as well as 30 and 60 min after applying 15 min of tsDCS over the twelfth thoracic vertebra. Each volunteer underwent three independent and randomized sessions of either cathodal, anodal or sham stimulation. tsDCS showed no effect on peak-to-peak amplitudes or latencies of cortical P40-N50 response after SS. Furthermore, tsDCS failed to induce significant changes on amplitude ratios of PSS, thus showing no impact on intracortical excitability of the somatosensory cortex in healthy subjects. Further research is required to reveal the different mechanisms and to strengthen clinical use of this promising technique.