Transcranial direct current stimulation to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex enhances early dexterity skills with the left non-dominant hand: a randomized controlled trial

Journal of Translational Medicine

Research

Kanako Fuyama¹  Hisato Nakazono²  Kazuhiro Sugawara³  Daisuke Sawamura⁴  Shinya Sakai⁴  Harukazu Tohyama⁴  Susumu Yoshida⁵  Hiroshi Miura⁶  Yukina Tokikuni⁶  Akihiro Watanabe⁶ 

[1] Data Science Center, Promotion Unit, Institute of Health Science Innovation for Medical Care, Hokkaido University Hospital, 060-8648, Sapporo, Japan;Department of Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Medical Science, Fukuoka International University of Health and Welfare, 814-0001, Fukuoka, Japan;Department of Physical Therapy, Sapporo Medical University, 060-8556, Sapporo, Japan;Department of Rehabilitation Science, Faculty of Health Sciences, Hokkaido University, 060-0812, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan;Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Health Sciences University of Hokkaido, 061-0293, Tobetsu, Japan;Graduate School of Health Sciences, Hokkaido University, 060-0812, Sapporo, Japan;

关键词: Transcranial direct current stimulation;    Motor learning;    Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex;    Non-dominant hand;    Fine motor;    Cognitive aspects;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12967-023-03989-9

 received in 2022-11-02, accepted in 2023-02-14,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is involved in early-phase manual dexterity skill acquisition when cognitive control processes, such as integration and complexity demands, are required. However, the effectiveness of left DLPFC transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on early-phase motor learning and whether its effectiveness depends on the cognitive demand of the target task are unclear. This study aimed to investigate whether tDCS over the left DLPFC improves non-dominant hand dexterity performance and determine if its efficacy depends on the cognitive demand of the target task.MethodsIn this randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled trial, 70 healthy, right-handed, young adult participants were recruited. They were randomly allocated to the active tDCS (2 mA for 20 min) or sham groups and repeatedly performed the Purdue Pegboard Test (PPT) left-handed peg task and left-handed assembly task three times: pre-tDCS, during tDCS, and post tDCS.ResultsThe final sample comprised 66 healthy young adults (mean age, 22.73 ± 1.57 years). There were significant interactions between group and time in both PPT tasks, indicating significantly higher performance of those in the active tDCS group than those in the sham group post tDCS (p < 0.001). Moreover, a greater benefit was observed in the left-handed assembly task performance than in the peg task performance (p < 0.001). No significant correlation between baseline performance and benefits from tDCS was observed in either task.ConclusionsThese results demonstrated that prefrontal tDCS significantly improved early-phase manual dexterity skill acquisition, and its benefits were greater for the task with high cognitive demands. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the underlying neurophysiological mechanisms of the left DLPFC in the modulation of early-phase dexterity skill acquisition.Trial registration: This study was registered in the University Hospital Medical Information Network Clinical Trial Registry in Japan (UMIN000046868), Registered February 8, 2022 https://center6.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/ctr_e/ctr_view.cgi?recptno=R000053467

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023

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