Anodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Shows Minimal, Measure-Specific Effects on Dynamic Postural Control in Young and Older Adults: A Double Blind, Sham-Controlled Study

PLoS One. 2017 Jan 18;12(1):e0170331. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0170331. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

We investigated whether stimulating the cerebellum and primary motor cortex (M1) using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) could affect postural control in young and older adults. tDCS was employed using a double-blind, sham-controlled design, in which young (aged 18-35) and older adults (aged 65+) were assessed over three sessions, one for each stimulatory condition-M1, cerebellar and sham. The effect of tDCS on postural control was assessed using a sway-referencing paradigm, which induced platform rotations in proportion to the participant's body sway, thus assessing sensory reweighting processes. Task difficulty was manipulated so that young adults experienced a support surface that was twice as compliant as that of older adults, in order to minimise baseline age differences in postural sway. Effects of tDCS on postural control were assessed during, immediately after and 30 minutes after tDCS. Additionally, the effect of tDCS on corticospinal excitability was measured by evaluating motor evoked potentials using transcranial magnetic stimulation immediately after and 30 minutes after tDCS. Minimal effects of tDCS on postural control were found in the eyes open condition only, and this was dependent on the measure assessed and age group. For young adults, stimulation had only offline effects, as cerebellar stimulation showed higher mean power frequency (MPF) of sway 30 minutes after stimulation. For older adults, both stimulation conditions delayed the increase in sway amplitude witnessed between blocks one and two until stimulation was no longer active. In conclusion, despite tDCS' growing popularity, we would caution researchers to consider carefully the type of measures assessed and the groups targeted in tDCS studies of postural control.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Cerebellum / physiology
  • Double-Blind Method
  • Evoked Potentials, Motor / physiology*
  • Humans
  • Motor Cortex / physiology*
  • Postural Balance / physiology*
  • Posture / physiology*
  • Psychomotor Performance / physiology*
  • Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation / adverse effects*
  • Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation / adverse effects*
  • Young Adult

Grants and funding

This work was supported by a Department of Employment and Learning PhD studentship to C. Craig and a British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grant R1067PSY to M. Doumas. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.