TY - JOUR
T1 - Single transcranial direct current stimulation in schizophrenia
T2 - Randomized, cross-over study of neurocognition, social cognition, ERPs, and side effects
AU - Rassovsky, Yuri
AU - Dunn, Walter
AU - Wynn, Jonathan K.
AU - Wu, Allan D.
AU - Iacoboni, Marco
AU - Hellemann, Gerhard
AU - Green, Michael F.
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported by a NARSAD Independent Investigator Grant from the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation (22017). We thank Albert Chung for assistance with tDCS equipment and method development.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Rassovsky et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2018/5
Y1 - 2018/5
N2 - Over the last decades, the treatment of schizophrenia has shifted fundamentally from a focus on symptom reduction to a focus on recovery and improving aspects of functioning. In this study, we examined the effect of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on social cognitive and nonsocial neurocognitive functions, as well as on electroencephalogram (EEG) measures, in individuals with schizophrenia. Thirty-seven individuals with schizophrenia were administered one of three different tDCS conditions (cathodal, anodal, and sham) per visit over the course of three visits, with approximately one week between each visit. Order of conditions was randomized and counterbalanced across subjects. For the active conditions, the electrode was placed over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex with the reference electrode over right supraorbital cortex. Current intensity was 2 mA and was maintained for two 20-minute sessions, with a one hour break between the sessions. Assessments were conducted immediately following each session, in a counterbalanced order of administration. No systematic effects were found across the social and nonsocial cognitive domains, and no significant effects were detected on event-related potentials (ERPs). The very small effect sizes, further validated by post-hoc power analyses (large Critical Ns), demonstrated that these findings were not due to lack of statistical power. Except for mild local discomfort, no significant side effects were reported. Findings demonstrate the safety and ease of administration of this procedure, but suggest that a single dose of tDCS over these areas does not yield a therapeutic effect on cognition in schizophrenia.
AB - Over the last decades, the treatment of schizophrenia has shifted fundamentally from a focus on symptom reduction to a focus on recovery and improving aspects of functioning. In this study, we examined the effect of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on social cognitive and nonsocial neurocognitive functions, as well as on electroencephalogram (EEG) measures, in individuals with schizophrenia. Thirty-seven individuals with schizophrenia were administered one of three different tDCS conditions (cathodal, anodal, and sham) per visit over the course of three visits, with approximately one week between each visit. Order of conditions was randomized and counterbalanced across subjects. For the active conditions, the electrode was placed over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex with the reference electrode over right supraorbital cortex. Current intensity was 2 mA and was maintained for two 20-minute sessions, with a one hour break between the sessions. Assessments were conducted immediately following each session, in a counterbalanced order of administration. No systematic effects were found across the social and nonsocial cognitive domains, and no significant effects were detected on event-related potentials (ERPs). The very small effect sizes, further validated by post-hoc power analyses (large Critical Ns), demonstrated that these findings were not due to lack of statistical power. Except for mild local discomfort, no significant side effects were reported. Findings demonstrate the safety and ease of administration of this procedure, but suggest that a single dose of tDCS over these areas does not yield a therapeutic effect on cognition in schizophrenia.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85046649936&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85046649936&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0197023
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0197023
M3 - Article
C2 - 29734347
AN - SCOPUS:85046649936
VL - 13
JO - PLoS One
JF - PLoS One
SN - 1932-6203
IS - 5
M1 - e0197023
ER -