Kent University research suggests, transcranial direct current stimulation improves isometric time to exhaustion of the knee extensors

Research led by the University shows that stimulation of the brain impacts on endurance exercise performance by decreasing perception of effort.

Researchers led by Dr Lex Mauger from Kent’s School of Sport and Exercise Sciences found that tDCS delayed exhaustion of the leg muscles by an average of 15% during an exercise task, and that this was likely caused by the participants feeling less effort during the exercise. However, tDCS elicited no significant effect on the neuromuscular response to exercise.

Transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS), a form of non-invasive brain stimulation, on the neuromuscular, physiological and perceptual responses to exhaustive leg exercise.

The performance effects of tDCS only occurred when the tDCS electrodes used to deliver the electrical current were positioned in a particular way. This study therefore provides important methodological guidance for the application of tDCS and provides further evidence that brain stimulation can improve endurance exercise performance, although the authors warn against the uncontrolled use of tDCS.

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.

Overall response neuromuscular parameters during the various phases of the ...

Overall response neuromuscular parameters during the various phases of the experiment. Panel A shows maximal voluntary contraction (MVC); Panel B shows voluntary activation level (VAL); Panel C shows peak torque of the doublet; Panel D shows MEParea/Mwave ratio; Panel E shows cortical silent period (CSP); Panel F shows root mean square of vastus lateralis (VL RMS) during time to exhaustion (TTE). P ⩽ 0.05 significant from baseline and post tDCS; #P < 0.05, significant main effect of time. Data are presented as mean ± SD (n = 9).

Findings suggest that in order to improve lower limb endurance performance, an extracephalic electrode montage is more effective than cephalic montage.

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