Anodal high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation reduces heart rate and modulates heart-rate variability in healthy young people: A randomized cross-controlled trial

Abstract

ObjectiveTo investigate whether anodal high-definition transcranial current stimulation (HD-tDCS) over the left dorsolateral pre-frontal cortex (DLPFC) could modulate the heart rate (HR) and heart-rate variability (HRV) in healthy young people.MethodsForty healthy young people were enrolled in this randomized crossover trial. The participants were randomized to receive anodal HD-tDCS (n = 20) or sham HD-tDCS (n = 20) over the left DLPFC with a washout period of 1 week. Electrocardiogram (ECG) data were continuously recorded 20 min before the stimulation, during the session (20 min), and 20 min after the session. HR and the time- and frequency-domain indices of the HRV were measured to investigate the activity of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.ResultsAnodal HD-tDCS over the left DLPFC induced a significant decrease in HR and a significant increase in the average of normal-to-normal intervals (AVG NN), low-frequency (LF) power, total power (TP), and LF/high-frequency (HF) ratio in comparison with the sham stimulation and the baseline. However, sham HD-tDCS over the left DLPFC had no significant effect on HR or HRV.ConclusionsAnodal HD-tDCS over the left DLPFC could reduce HR and modulate the HRV in healthy young people. HD-tDCS may show some potential for acutely modulating cardiovascular function.

The role of emotion regulation for general self-efficacy in adolescents assessed through both neurophysiological and self-reported measures

“…32,33 A growing body of evidence suggests that vagal tone is influenced by dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activity. [37][38][39][40][41][42] Vagal tone, in turn, is positively associated with prospective metacognitive DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/abxfn 13 accuracy for performance estimations, and negatively associated with overconfidence. 21,62 Thus, individuals with low vagal tone may have high SE due to overconfidence resulting from lower dorsolateral prefrontal cortex function, while individuals with high vagal tone may have high SE due to increased dorsolateral prefrontal capacity for 1) metacognitive judgements of their abilities,…”

“…While both RMSSD and HFms 2 are accepted indicators of vagal tone, and both indicators are associated with prefrontal cortex activity, research indicates that RMSSD is also influenced by sympathetic activity. [37][38][39][40][41][42]57,85,86…”

“…24,25,36 A growing body of evidence suggests that vagal tone is influenced by dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activity. [37][38][39][40][41][42] In a recent study, resting vagal tone was associated with functional connectivity between dorsolateral prefrontal-and medial prefrontal-related brain networks responsible for solving tasks and directing attention towards internal states, but this association diminished when participants were exposed to stress. 39 Thus, ER capacity, indicated by vagal tone at rest, may be an indicator of the threshold for when coordination between internally and externally guided cognitions are no longer possible, serving as a possible modulator of processes influencing SE.…”

Anodal transcranial direct current stimulation enhances response inhibition and attention allocation in fencers

“…The athletes were given five attempts to familiarize themselves with the test in each mode before starting the actual test. After completion of the whole test, an anodal tDCS intervention was carried out with a current strength of 2 mA for 20 min or sham stimulation ( Bashir et al, 2022 ; Gu et al, 2022 ). Another SST test was performed immediately after the stimulation.…”

“…When anodal stimulation was performed, the operator pressed the conductivity test button to check the conductivity and then pressed the start button to perform tDCS. The current strength was gradually increased to 2 mA within 30 s and lasted 20 min, and then the current gradually decreased to 0 mA in the last 30 s. The current intensity, stimulation time, and current acceleration of the sham stimulation were the same as those of the anodal stimulation, except that the current accelerated to 2 mA in the first 30 s and then gradually decreased to 0 mA automatically in 30 s ( Gu et al, 2022 ; Guo et al, 2022 ). The tDCS was stopped immediately if the subject felt any discomfort other than the normal mild tingling sensation of stimulation throughout the tDCS procedure.…”