Skip to main content
Log in

Noninvasive Transcranial Electrostimulation of the Brain Endophrinergic Structures: Effects on Human Fatigue and Related Psychophysiological Indices

  • Published:
Human Physiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A randomized single-blind passive placebo-controlled study using a set of seven subjective and objective psychophysiological tests that evaluated the background state and changes in 26 psychophysiological indices (including the physical, cognitive, and affective components of fatigue) showed that transcranial electrostimulation (TES) of endorphinergic structures of the human brain facilitates the normalization of most indices. The positive effects of TES were more pronounced in subjects with strong negative shifts of the initial indices, which suggests a homeostatic character of the effects of activation of the brain endorphin-mediated mechanisms. Special attention was paid to the use of an analog scale for rapid evaluation of fatigue whose validity, reliability, and applicability were proved experimentally by the method of correlation matrices.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  1. Bakhirev, V.D., Klinicheskaya neirofiziologiya regulyatornykh peptidov (Clinical Neurophysiology of Regulatory Peptides), Sverdlovsk, 1989.

  2. Hennig, J.,Laschefski, U., andOpper, C., Biopsychological Changes after Bungeejumping: Beta-Endorphin Immunoreactivity as a Mediator of Euphoria?, Neurophysiology, 1994, vol. 29, no. 1, p. 28.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Zorilla, E.P.,DeRubeis, R.J., andRedei, E., High Self-Esteem, Hardiness and Affective Stability Are Associated with Higher Basal Pituitary-Adrenal Hormone Levels, Psychoneuroendocrinology, 1995, vol. 20, no. 6, p. 591.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Sher, L., Exercise, Well-being, and Endogenous Molecules of Mood, Lancet, 1996, vol. 348, no. 9025, p. 477.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Sher, L., The Role of Endogenous Opioid System in the Pathogenesis of Anxiety Disorders, Med. Hypotheses, 1998, vol. 50, no. 6, p. 473.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Sher, L., The Role of Endogenous Opioid System in the Effects of Acupuncture on Mood, Behavior, Learning and Memory, Med. Hypotheses, 1998, vol. 50, no. 6, p. 475.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Giannini, A.J.,Melemis, S.M.,Martin, D.M., and Folts, D.J., Symptoms of Premenstrual Syndrome as a Function of Beta-Endorphin: Two Subtypes, Progr. Neuropsychopharmacol. Biol. Psychiat., 1994, vol. 18, no. 2, p. 321.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Frecska, E. andDavis, K.L., The Opioid Model in Psychiatric Research, in Neuropeptides and Psychiatric Disorders, Nemeroff, C.B., Ed., Washington, DC: Am. Psychiatr., 1991, p. 169.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Gulya, K., The Opioid System in Neurologic and Psychiatric Disorders and in Their Experimental Models, Pharmacol. Ther., 1990, vol. 46, p. 395.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Djurovic, D.,Milic-Askrabic, J., andMajkic-Singh, N., Serum Beta-Endorphin Levels in Patients with Depression on Fluvoxamine, Farmaco, 1999, vol. 54, no. 3, p. 130.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Conti, F.,Pittoni, V.,Sacredote, P., et al., Decreased Immunoreactive Beta-Endorphin in Mononuclear Leucocytes from Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Clin. Exp. Rheumatol., 1998, vol. 16, no. 6, p. 729.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Young, A.H.,Sharpe, M.,Clements, A., et al., Basal Activity of the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis in Patients with the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (Neurasthenia), Biol. Psychiatry, 1998, vol. 43, no. 3, p. 236.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Harber, V.J. andSutton, J.R., Endorphins and Exercise, Sports Med., 1984, vol. 1, no. 2, p. 154.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Akimov, G.A.,Zabolotnykh, V.A.,Lebedev, V.P., et al., Transcranial Impact in the Management of Vegetovascular Dystonia, Zh. Nevropatol. Psikhiatr., 1991, vol. 91, no. 7, p. 75.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Grinenko, A.Ya.,Krupitskii, E.M.,Lebedev, V.P., et al., Transcranial Electrostimulation Used to Arrest the Alcoholic Abstinence Syndrome, Fiziol. Chel., 1988, vol. 14, no. 2, p. 212.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Airapetov, L.N.,Zaichik, A.N.,Trukhmanov, N.S., et al., Change in the Brain and Liquor Beta-Endorphin Level during Transcranial Electric Analgesia, Fiziol. Zh. SSSR, 1985, vol. 71, no. 1, p. 56.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Zabolotnykh, I.I.,Zabolotnykh, V.A.,Pozdysheva, S.A., andBrovin, A.N., Effectiveness of Treatment of Patients with a Psychoorganic Syndrome of Various Etiology Using Transcranial Electrostimulation, in Transkranial'naya elektrostimulyatsiya (Transcranial Electrostimulation), Dvoretskii, D.P., Ed., St. Petersburg, 1998, p. 478.

  18. Krupitsky, E.M., Burakov, A.M., Karandashova, G.F., et al., The Administration of Transcranial Electric Treatment for Affective Disturbances Therapy in Alcoholic Patients, Drug Alcohol Depend., 1991, vol. 27, no. 1, p. 1.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Trifonov, E.V., Psikhofiziologiya professional'noi deyatel'nosti. Slovar' (Psychophysiology of Vocational Activity: A Glossary), St. Petersburg, 1996, p. 262.

  20. Glaus, A.,Crow, R., andHammond, S., A Qualitative Study to Explore the Concept of Fatigue/Tiredness in Cancer Patients and in Healthy Individuals, Eur. J. Cancer Care, 1996, vol. 5, suppl. 2, p. 8.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Price, D.D. andFields, H.L., The Contribution of Desire and Expectation to Placebo Analgesia: Implications for New Research Strategies, in The Placebo Effect, Harrington, A., Ed., Cambridge: Harvard Univ. Press, 1997, p. 117.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Timofeev, V.I. andFilimonenko, Yu.I., Kratkoe rukovodstvo prakticheskomu psikhologu po ispol'zovaniyu tsvetovogo testa M. Lyushera (Brief Manual for a Practicing Psychologist in Using M. Luchere's Color Test), St. Petersburg, 1995.

  23. Doskin, V.A.,Lavrent'eva, N.A., andMiroshnikov, N.M., A Test for Differential Self-Evaluation of the Functional State, Vopr. Psikhol., 1973, no. 6, p. 141.

  24. Leonova, A.B., Psikhodiagnostika funktsional'nykh sostoyanii cheloveka (Psychodiagnosis of Human Functional States), Moscow: Mosk. Gos. Univ., 1984, pp. 96–104.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Khanin, Yu.M., Kratkoe rukovodstvo po primeneniyu shkaly reaktivnoi i lichnostnoi trevozhnosti Ch.D. Spilbergera (Brief Manual on the Application of C.D. Spielberger's Reactive and Individual Anxiety Scale), Leningrad: Res. Inst. Phys. Training, 1976.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Sysoev, V.N., Metodika diagnostiki rabotosposobnosti. Test Landol'ta (A Method of Efficiency Diagnosis: The Landolt Test), St. Petersburg, 1996.

  27. Baskakova, I.L. andZakeeva, L.D., Attention as an Effi-ciency Index, in Voprosy psikhologii poznavatel'noi deyatel'nosti (Problems of Psychology of Cognitive Activity), Baklanova, N.L., Ed., Moscow: Mosk. Gos. Ped. Inst., 1979, p. 10.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Aleshin, S.V., The Psychophysiological Nature of Intelligence: In Search for a Working Conception, Fiziol. Chel., 1997, vol. 23, no. 5, p. 114.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Baevskii, R.M. et al., Otsenka funktsional'nogo sostoyaniya organizma na osnove matematicheskogo analiza serdechnogo ritma. Metodicheskie rekomendatsii (Evaluation of the Functional State of the Body Based on Heart Rate Mathematical Analysis: Methodological Recommendations), Vladivostok: DVO AN SSSR, 1988.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Frolov, B.S. and Yashchenko, Yu.V., USSR Inventor's Certificate no. SUN 1814 875, priority of August 9, 1981 (unpublished).

  31. Baevskii, R.M., Matematicheskii analiz izmenenii serdechnogo ritma pri stresse (Mathematical Analysis of Changes in the Heart Rate during Stress), Moscow: Nauka, 1984, pp. 63–68.

    Google Scholar 

  32. Barkov, A.V.,Derpgol'ts, S.V., andIvanov, A.S., Hardware-Software Complex for Evaluating the Current Human Psychophysiological State, in Aktual'nye problemy fizicheskoi kul'tury v professional'noi podgotovke studentov vysshei shkoly (Current Problems of Physical Training in Vocational Training of Higher School Students), St. Petersburg, 1998, p. 37.

  33. Heart Rate Variability: Standards of Measurement, Physiological Interpretation, and Clinical Use: Task Force of European Society of Cardiology and the North American Society, Circulation, 1996, vol. 93, no. 5, p. 1043.

  34. Melzak, R., Zagadka boli (The Enigma of Pain), Moscow: Meditsina, 1981.

    Google Scholar 

  35. Bubnova, S.S., The Structure of the Vocationally Important Qualities and Effectiveness of an Operator's Activity in Extreme Conditions, in Funktsional'noe sostoyanie cheloveka i metody ego issledovaniya (Human Functional State and Methods of Its Study), Frolov, M.V., Ed., Moscow: Nauka, 1991, p. 8.

    Google Scholar 

  36. Sidorenko, E.V., Metody matematicheskoi obrabotki v psikhologii (Mathematical Processing Methods in Psychology), St. Petersburg, 1996.

  37. Gubler, E.V., Vychislitel'nye metody analiza i raspoznavaniya patologicheskikh posledstvii (Numerical Methods of the Analysis and Identification of Pathological Consequences), Leningrad: Meditsina, 1970.

    Google Scholar 

  38. Lebedev, V.P.,Illinsky, O.B.,Savchenko, A.B., et al., Transcranial Electrostimulation of the Brain Endophrinergic System As an Example of the Uninvasive Functional Electrostimulation of the Brain Homeostatic Mechanisms: Activation of Tissue Repair, Proceedings of the 4th Annual Conference of the International Functional Electrostimulation Society, Japan, 1999, p. 215.

  39. Fields, H.L. andPrice, D.D., Toward a Neurobiology of Placebo Analgesia, in The Placebo Effect, Harrington, A., Ed., Cambridge: Harvard Univ. Press, 1997, p. 93.

    Google Scholar 

  40. Shmonin, A.V., Application of Transcranial Electric Analgesia in the Conditions of a District Hospital: Evaluation of the Optimum Value of the Applied Frequencies, in Novyi metod transkranial'nogo elektroobezbolivaniya. Tezisy dokladov (A New Method of Transcranial Electric Analgesia: Abstracts), Leningrad: Nauka, 1987, p. 45.

    Google Scholar 

  41. Wickramasekera, I., A Conditioned Response Model of the Placebo Effect: Predictions from the Model, in Placebo: Theory, Research, and Mechanisms, White, L.,Tursky, B., andSchwartz, G.E., Eds., New York: Guilford, 1985, p. 83.

    Google Scholar 

  42. Artsimovich, N.G.,Zayashnikova, T.S.,Lebedev, V.P., et al., A New Approach to the Management of Patients with Neuroimmunological Pathology, Tezisy dokladov VII Rossiiskogo Natsional'nogo Kongressa “Chelovek i lekarstvo” (Abstr. VII Rus. Natl. Congr. “Man and Drug”), Moscow, 2000, p. 99.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lebedev, V.P., Kovalevskii, A.V., Gazeeva, I.V. et al. Noninvasive Transcranial Electrostimulation of the Brain Endophrinergic Structures: Effects on Human Fatigue and Related Psychophysiological Indices. Human Physiology 27, 143–154 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011015030248

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011015030248

Keywords

Navigation