Abstract
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a noninvasive brain stimulation technique that modulates cortical excitability and influences motor behavior. There is limited information available regarding the effects of anodal tDCS on lower limb reaction time. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of anodal tDCS on lower limb simple reaction time (SRT) and choice reaction time (CRT). We probed this question further by examining the effects of anodal tDCS of the lower limb M1 on an upper limb RT task and a cognitive measure. Fourteen healthy young adults received anodal tDCS and sham tDCS to the lower limb M1 on two separate testing days in a counterbalanced order. After stimulation, we assessed the effects of tDCS on ankle dorsiflexion SRT and CRT, ankle plantarflexion SRT and CRT, wrist extension SRT and CRT and the symbol digit modality test (SDMT). Anodal tDCS significantly improved response times from baseline for ankle CRT but not for ankle SRT or wrist SRT or CRT. A significant decrement (i.e., longer response time) was noted for the sham tDCS conditions. There was a significant difference between anodal and sham conditions for all RT tasks, suggesting that anodal tDCS improved RT compared to sham. No change in SDMT scores was observed for both conditions. Anodal tDCS appeared to differentially modulate ankle SRT and CRT, suggesting an influence of anodal tDCS on complex motor processes and/or the supplementary motor area. Absence of effects on wrist CRT or SDMT suggests a spatial specificity of the influence of tDCS. Anodal tDCS also appears to potentially negate the effects of fatigue or task switching that was detrimental to RT in the sham condition.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aboodarda SJ, Copithorne DB, Power KE, Drinkwater E, Behm DG (2015) Elbow flexor fatigue modulates central excitability of the knee extensors. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab 40:924–930. doi:10.1139/apnm-2015-0088
Benedict RH, Duquin JA, Jurgensen S et al (2008) Repeated assessment of neuropsychological deficits in multiple sclerosis using the Symbol Digit Modalities Test and the MS Neuropsychological Screening Questionnaire. Mult Scler 14:940–946. doi:10.1177/1352458508090923
Benwell NM, Sacco P, Hammond GR, Byrnes ML, Mastaglia FL, Thickbroom GW (2006) Short-interval cortical inhibition and corticomotor excitability with fatiguing hand exercise: a central adaptation to fatigue? Exp Brain Res 170:191–198. doi:10.1007/s00221-005-0195-7
Bolzoni F, Bruttini C, Esposti R, Castellani C, Cavallari P (2015) Transcranial direct current stimulation of SMA modulates anticipatory postural adjustments without affecting the primary movement. Behav Brain Res 291:407–413. doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2015.05.044
Charvet LE, Beekman R, Amadiume N, Belman AL, Krupp LB (2014) The Symbol Digit Modalities Test is an effective cognitive screen in pediatric onset multiple sclerosis (MS). J Neurol Sci 341:79–84. doi:10.1016/j.jns.2014.04.006
Cian C, Barraud PA, Melin B, Raphel C (2001) Effects of fluid ingestion on cognitive function after heat stress or exercise-induced dehydration. Int J Psychophysiol 42:243–251
Cote J, Salmela J, Papathanasopoulu KP (1992) Effects of progressive exercise on attentional focus. Percept Mot Skills 75:351–354. doi:10.2466/pms.1992.75.2.351
Cunnington R, Windischberger C, Deecke L, Moser E (2002) The preparation and execution of self-initiated and externally-triggered movement: a study of event-related fMRI. Neuroimage 15:373–385. doi:10.1006/nimg.2001.0976
Dreher JC, Grafman J (2003) Dissociating the roles of the rostral anterior cingulate and the lateral prefrontal cortices in performing two tasks simultaneously or successively. Cereb Cortex 13:329–339
Fregni F, Boggio PS, Santos MC et al (2006) Noninvasive cortical stimulation with transcranial direct current stimulation in Parkinson’s disease. Mov Disord 21:1693–1702. doi:10.1002/mds.21012
Gilbert SJ, Shallice T (2002) Task switching: a PDP model. Cogn Psychol 44:297–337. doi:10.1006/cogp.2001.0770
Grezes J, Decety J (2002) Does visual perception of object afford action? Evidence from a neuroimaging study. Neuropsychologia 40:212–222
Halperin I, Aboodarda SJ, Behm DG (2014) Knee extension fatigue attenuates repeated force production of the elbow flexors. Eur J Sport Sci 14:823–829. doi:10.1080/17461391.2014.911355
Hancock S, McNaughton L (1986) Effects of fatigue on ability to process visual information by experienced orienteers. Percept Mot Skills 62:491–498. doi:10.2466/pms.1986.62.2.491
Hanes DP, Schall JD (1996) Neural control of voluntary movement initiation. Science 274:427–430
Hummel FC, Voller B, Celnik P, Floel A, Giraux P, Gerloff C, Cohen LG (2006) Effects of brain polarization on reaction times and pinch force in chronic stroke. BMC Neurosci 7:73. doi:10.1186/1471-2202-7-73
Kang EK, Paik NJ (2011) Effect of a tDCS electrode montage on implicit motor sequence learning in healthy subjects. Exp Transl Stroke Med 3:4. doi:10.1186/2040-7378-3-4
Kilavik BE, Confais J, Riehle A (2014) Signs of timing in motor cortex during movement preparation and cue anticipation. Adv Exp Med Biol 829:121–142. doi:10.1007/978-1-4939-1782-2_7
Kimberg DY, Aguirre GK, D’Esposito M (2000) Modulation of task-related neural activity in task-switching: an fMRI study. Brain Res Cogn Brain Res 10:189–196
Leite J, Carvalho S, Fregni F, Goncalves OF (2011) Task-specific effects of tDCS-induced cortical excitability changes on cognitive and motor sequence set shifting performance. PLoS one 6:e24140. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0024140
Madhavan S, Stinear JW (2010) Focal and bidirectional modulation of lower limb motor cortex using anodal transcranial direct current stimulation. Brain Stimul 3:42–50
Madhavan S, Weber KA 2nd, Stinear JW (2011) Non-invasive brain stimulation enhances fine motor control of the hemiparetic ankle: implications for rehabilitation. Exp Brain Res 209:9–17. doi:10.1007/s00221-010-2511-0
Magill R (2011) Motor learning and control: concepts and applications. McGraw-Hill Education, New York
Miranda PC, Lomarev M, Hallett M (2006) Modeling the current distribution during transcranial direct current stimulation. Clin Neurophysiol 117:1623–1629. doi:10.1016/j.clinph.2006.04.009
Miranda PC, Faria P, Hallett M (2009) What does the ratio of injected current to electrode area tell us about current density in the brain during tDCS? Clin Neurophysiol 120:1183–1187. doi:10.1016/j.clinph.2009.03.023
Nijhawan R (2008) Visual prediction: psychophysics and neurophysiology of compensation for time delays. Behav Brain Sci 31:179–198. doi:10.1017/s0140525x08003804 (discussion 198–239)
Nitsche MA, Cohen LG, Wassermann EM et al (2008) Transcranial direct current stimulation: state of the art 2008. Brain Stimul 1:206–223. doi:10.1016/j.brs.2008.06.004
Park SD, Kim JY, Song HS (2015) Effect of application of transcranial direct current stimulation during task-related training on gait ability of patients with stroke. J Phys Ther Sci 27:623–625. doi:10.1589/jpts.27.623
Pereira DR, Costa P, Cerqueira JJ (2015) Repeated assessment and practice effects of the Written Symbol Digit Modalities Test using a Short Inter-Test Interval. Arch Clin Neuropsychol 30:424–434. doi:10.1093/arclin/acv028
Pope PA, Brenton JW, Miall RC (2015) Task-specific facilitation of cognition by anodal transcranial direct current stimulation of the prefrontal cortex. Cereb Cortex. doi:10.1093/cercor/bhv094
Rogers RD, Sahakian BJ, Hodges JR, Polkey CE, Kennard C, Robbins TW (1998) Dissociating executive mechanisms of task control following frontal lobe damage and Parkinson’s disease. Brain 121(Pt 5):815–842
Rorie AE, Newsome WT (2005) A general mechanism for decision-making in the human brain? Trends Cogn Sci 9:41–43. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2004.12.007
Shah B, Nguyen TT, Madhavan S (2013) Polarity independent effects of cerebellar tDCS on short term ankle visuomotor learning. Brain Stimul 6:966–968. doi:10.1016/j.brs.2013.04.008
Smith A (1968) Learning disroders. In: Helmuth J (ed) The symbol-digit modalities test: a neuropsychologic test of learning and other cerebral disorders. Special Child Publications, Seattle
Smith A (1982) Symbol digits modalities test. Western psychological services, Los Angeles
Sriraman A, Oishi T, Madhavan S (2014) Timing-dependent priming effects of tDCS on ankle motor skill learning. Brain Res. doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2014.07.021
Stagg CJ, Nitsche MA (2011) Physiological basis of transcranial direct current stimulation. Neuroscientist 17:37–53. doi:10.1177/1073858410386614
Stagg CJ, Bachtiar V, O’Shea J et al (2012) Cortical activation changes underlying stimulation-induced behavioural gains in chronic stroke. Brain 135:276–284. doi:10.1093/brain/awr313
Sternberg S (1969) Memory-scanning: mental processes revealed by reaction-time experiments. Am Sci 57:421–457
Tanaka S, Hanakawa T, Honda M, Watanabe K (2009) Enhancement of pinch force in the lower leg by anodal transcranial direct current stimulation. Exp Brain Res 196:459–465. doi:10.1007/s00221-009-1863-9
Tanaka S, Takeda K, Otaka Y et al (2011) Single session of transcranial direct current stimulation transiently increases knee extensor force in patients with hemiparetic stroke. Neurorehabil Neural Repair 25:565–569. doi:10.1177/1545968311402091
Tanji J, Mushiake H (1996) Comparison of neuronal activity in the supplementary motor area and primary motor cortex. Brain Res Cogn Brain Res 3:143–150
Teo WP, Rodrigues JP, Mastaglia FL, Thickbroom GW (2012) Post-exercise depression in corticomotor excitability after dynamic movement: a general property of fatiguing and non-fatiguing exercise. Exp Brain Res 216:41–49. doi:10.1007/s00221-011-2906-6
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Devanathan, D., Madhavan, S. Effects of anodal tDCS of the lower limb M1 on ankle reaction time in young adults. Exp Brain Res 234, 377–385 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-015-4470-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-015-4470-y