Is effect of transcranial direct current stimulation on visuomotor coordination dependent on task difficulty

• Published in: Neural regeneration research Vol. 10; no. 3; pp. 463 - 466
• Main Authors: Kwon, YongHyun, Kang, KyungWoo, Son, SungMin, Lee, NaKyung
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: India Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd 01.03.2015; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt. Ltd; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt Ltd; Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
• Subjects: acupuncture; Alzheimer′s disease; apoptosis; apparent diffusion coefficient; astrocytes; auranofin; average combined score; blood-nerve barrier; bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells; brain injury; Brain stimulation; cell transplantation; cerebral hemorrhage; cerebral ischemia; Chinese herbal formula; cisplatin; cochlea; DAPT; dentate gyrus; dextromethorphan; differentiation; diffusion tensor imaging; Electric fields; electroacupuncture therapy; Electrodes; Evans blue tracer; fiber tractography; fractional anisotropy; gene therapy; glaucoma; Health aspects; Hes1; hippocampus; hypothermia; immunohistochemistry; inflammation; intraocular pressure; JNK3; laser photocoagulation; lipid peroxidation; lumbar puncture; magnetic guidance; magnetic resonance image; magnetic resonance imaging; malondialdehyde; microglia; motor learning; nanocarrier; nerve growth factor receptor; nerve regeneration; neural degeneration; neural regeneration; neural stem cells; neurodegeneration; neuroinflammation; neurons; Neurophysiology; neuroprotection; notch signaling pathway; Notch1; NSFC grant; ocular hypertension; ongluo Jiunao injection; ototoxicity; peripheral nerve injury; polyethyleneimine-polyethylene glycol; PP2; primary motor area; proliferation; rats; real-time quantitative PCR; regeneration; retinal ganglion cell; rosiglitazone; sciatic nerve; SMAD3; spinal cord; spinal cord injury; spinal cord transection; spiral ganglion cells; Src kinase; superparamagnetic iron oxide; survival curve; tamoxifen; task difficulty; TDCS; Tneurotrophic factor; transcranial direct current stimulation; Transcranial magnetic stimulation; transforming growth factor β1; trauma; type 1 diabetes; visuomotor coordination; western blot assay; X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein; Xuesai Tong; 交叉设计; 任务难度; 协同效应; 电刺激; 直流; 运动皮层; 运动行为; China; United States > US; primary motor area; neural regeneration; motor learning; visuomotor coordination; task difficulty; transcranial direct current stimulation
• ISSN: 1673-5374; 1876-7958
• DOI: 10.4103/1673-5374.153697

Transcranial direct current stimulation （tDCS）, an emerging technique for non-invasive brain stimulation, is increasingly used to induce changes in cortical excitability and modulate motor behavior, especially for upper limbs. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of tDCS of the primary motor cortex on visuomotor coordination based on three levels of task difficulty in healthy subjects. Thirty-eight healthy participants underwent real tDCS or sham tDCS. Using a single-blind, sham-controlled crossover design, tDCS was applied to the primary motor cortex. For real tDCS conditions, tDCS intensity was 1 mA while stimulation was applied for 15 minutes. For the sham tDCS, electrodes were placed in the same position, but the stimu- lator was turned off after 5 seconds. Visuomotor tracking task, consisting of three levels （levels 1, 2, 3） of difficulty with higher level indicating greater difficulty, was performed before and after tDCS application. At level 2, real tDCS of the primary motor cortex improved the accurate index compared to the sham tDCS. However, at levels 1 and 3, the accurate index was not significantly increased after real tDCS compared to the sham tDCS. These findings suggest that tasks of mod- erate difficulty may improve visuomotor coordination in healthy subjects when tDCS is applied compared with easier or more difficult tasks.