The effects of unilateral transcranial direct current stimulation on unimanual laparoscopic peg-transfer task

Zaeem Hadi; Aysha Umbreen; Muhammad Nabeel Anwar; Muhammad Samran Navid

doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2021.147656

The effects of unilateral transcranial direct current stimulation on unimanual laparoscopic peg-transfer task

Brain Res. 2021 Nov 15:1771:147656. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2021.147656. Epub 2021 Sep 8.

Authors

Zaeem Hadi¹, Aysha Umbreen², Muhammad Nabeel Anwar², Muhammad Samran Navid³

Affiliations

¹ Human Systems Lab, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences, School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan; Brain and Vestibular Group, Neuro-otology Unit, Department of Brain Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, UK.
² Human Systems Lab, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences, School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan.
³ Human Systems Lab, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences, School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan; Mech-Sense, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Aalborg University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark; Department of Clinical Medicine, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark; Centre for Chiropractic Research, New Zealand College of Chiropractic, Auckland, New Zealand; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: samran.navid@donders.ru.nl.

PMID: 34508672
DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2021.147656

Abstract

Introduction: Efficient training methods are required for laparoscopic surgical skills training to reduce the time needed for proficiency. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is widely used to enhance motor skill acquisition and can be used to supplement the training of laparoscopic surgical skill acquisition. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of anodal tDCS over the primary motor cortex (M1) on the performance of a unimanual variant of the laparoscopic peg-transfer task.

Methods: Fifteen healthy subjects participated in this randomized, double-blinded crossover study involving an anodal tDCS and a sham tDCS intervention separated by 48 h. On each intervention day, subjects performed a unimanual variant of laparoscopic peg-transfer task in three sessions (baseline, tDCS, post-tDCS). The tDCS session consisted of 10 min of offline tDCS followed by 10 min of online tDCS. The scores based on the task completion time and the number of errors in each session were used as a primary outcome measure. A linear mixed-effects model was used for the analysis.

Results: We found that the scores increased over sessions (p < 0.01). However, we found no effects of stimulation (anodal tDCS vs. sham tDCS) and no interaction of stimulation and sessions.

Conclusion: This study suggests that irrespective of the type of current stimulation (anodal and sham) over M1, there was an improvement in the performance of the unimanual peg-transfer task, implying that there was motor learning over time. The results would be useful in designing efficient training paradigms and further investigating the effects of tDCS on laparoscopic peg-transfer tasks.

Keywords: Laparoscopic training; Motor learning; Peg-transfer task; Primary motor cortex; Uni-manual task; tDCS.

Publication types

Randomized Controlled Trial

MeSH terms

Adult
Cross-Over Studies
Double-Blind Method
Female
Functional Laterality
Healthy Volunteers
Humans
Laparoscopy / education*
Learning
Linear Models
Male
Motor Cortex*
Motor Skills
Psychomotor Performance / physiology*
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation / methods*
Young Adult