Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Brain Electrical Activity, Heart Rate Variability, and Dual-Task Performance in Healthy and Fibromyalgia Women: A Study Protocol

Abstract

People with fibromyalgia could experience physical and cognitive impairments. Furthermore, when performing two tasks at the same time, people with fibromyalgia showed a higher dual-task cost compared to a single task than healthy people. This may result in poorer performance of activities of daily living that are commonly presented as a combination of two or more tasks. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a promising nonpharmacological therapy. However, there is controversy regarding the intensities and the effectiveness of this therapy. Thus, the present study will aim: (1) to compare the effectiveness and the impact of two tDCS intensities (1 mA and 2 mA) on cognitive, motor, brain functions, and cardiac autonomic modulation; (2) to study the impact of tDCS on the dual-task performance and creativity after applying tDCS in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. In this study, 26 women will participate and will be divided into two groups: women with fibromyalgia (n = 13), and healthy controls (n = 13). A reduction in cognitive-motor interference in dual-task performance is expected, as well as a modification in neurophysiological parameters and an improvement in cardiac autonomic modulation. Lastly, no different effects are expected depending on the stimulation intensity applied. The obtained results will help to determine if tDCS in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex could improve the occupational performance of women with fibromyalgia.

Design and Optimization of a Novel Multi-Quadrant Spatial Array for Non-Invasive Focalized Magnetic Stimulation of the Deep Brain

“…The optimized MQS array can produce a significant focusing area in the deep brain, whereas the induced E-field generated by the SC array is concentrated in the superficial region. The focusing area generated by the conventional single-layer SC array at the stimulation depth of 10 cm is 110 cm 2 , which means at the same Joule loss, the optimized MQS array reduces the focusing area in the deep brain region by 76% compared to the conventional planar single-layer SC array.…”

A MATLAB-Based Toolbox to Simulate Transcranial Direct-Current Stimulation Using Flexible, Fast, and High Quality Tetrahedral Mesh Generation

“…As consequence, the estimation of the electric field distribution in the brain is investigated through computer-based numerical simulation. In tDCS method, the stimulation process is performed by placing pair or multi-electrodes in previously defined posi-tions on the scalp to stimulate the targeted brain area with small amounts of current (1-2 mA) [2]. Typically, increasing the electric field concentration in the target area of the patient's brain improves the modulation of neural pathways in that area and helps in the rapid treatment of brain injuries [3].…”