Effect of tDCS targeting the M1 or left DLPFC on physical performance, psychophysiological responses, and cognitive function in repeated all-out cycling: a randomized controlled trial.
Hafez Teymoori, Ehsan Amiri, Worya Tahmasebi and 3 others
PMID 37496055WHAT IT FOUND
tDCS over motor or prefrontal cortex did not improve repeated all-out cycling power in 15 healthy men.
Other outcomes, including lower perceived exertion and better Stroop score with prefrontal stimulation, differed from sham.
Key findings
01The main cycling power outcomes, peak power and mean power, did not differ among M1 tDCS, DLPFC tDCS, and sham.
02Left DLPFC tDCS lowered perceived exertion after the first and third Wingate bouts compared with sham, and after the third bout compared with M1 tDCS.
03After the exercise protocol, the color-word Stroop interference score was higher with left DLPFC tDCS than sham.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The study included only healthy young active men, so it does not show what would happen in women, older adults, patients, or people with disabilities. The sample was small, and the positive findings were on other outcomes after the main cycling performance result was null. The paper does not name a pre-specified primary outcome, so the weight of the positive secondary results is uncertain. M1 stimulation was placed using scalp landmarks without transcranial magnetic stimulation hot-spotting, so the motor target may have been imprecise. No neuroimaging or neurophysiological measures of brain activity were used, so the study cannot confirm what happened in the brain. There was no no-stimulation control condition, so placebo effects cannot be fully ruled out.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that tDCS improves cycling performance or patient care. The main performance measures did not differ from sham, and the lower perceived exertion and higher Stroop score were secondary lab outcomes in healthy young men.