Short-Term Effects of Anodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Endurance and Maximal Force Production. A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

The purpose of the present systematic review and meta-analysis was to explore the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on endurance (i.e., time to task failure (TTF)) and maximal voluntary contraction (MVC). Furthermore, we aimed to analyze whether the duration of stimulation, the brain region targeted for stimulation, and the task performed could also influence motor performance. We performed a systematic literature review in the databases MEDLINE and Web of Science. The short-term effects of anodal tDCS and sham stimulation (placebo) were considered as experimental and control conditions, respectively. A total of 31 interventions were included (MVC = 13; TTF = 18). Analysis of the strength-related tDCS studies showed small improvements in the MVC (SMD = 0.19; 95% CI = −0.02, 0.41; p = 0.08). However, the results of the endurance-related interventions indicated a moderate effect on TTF performance (SMD = 0.26; 95% CI = 0.07, 0.45; p = 0.008). Furthermore, the sub-analysis showed that anodal tDCS over M1 and stimulation durations longer than 10 min produced the best results in terms of TTF performance enhancement. Additionally, the effects of anodal tDCS were larger during full body exercises (i.e., cycling) when compared to uniarticular tasks. In conclusion, the current meta-analysis indicated that anodal tDCS leads to small and moderate effects on MVC and TTF, respectively.

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation at 4 mA Induces Greater Leg Muscle Fatigability in Women Compared to Men

“…Stimulation before performing a task may activate neuronal populations in a non-specific way [36]. In addition, although most have stimulated before a task [37], some motor and cognitive learning studies [38][39][40][41] have demonstrated that tDCS during a task may theoretically enhance endogenous signals during task execution and therefore benefit performance.…”

Transcranial direct current stimulation and sporting performance: A systematic review and meta‐analysis of transcranial direct current stimulation effects on physical endurance, muscular strength and visuomotor skills

“…tDCS in the field of sport and exercise sciences has begun to be examined in previous systematic reviews which have reported some positive (Alix‐Fages et al, 2019) and some inconclusive (Holgado, Vadillo, et al, 2019; Machado et al, 2019) evidence for strength and endurance improvements. These reviews, however, were limited in identifying only a small number of studies (Lattari et al, 2018b; Machado et al, 2019) or in grouping together studies that explored disparate exercise dimensions (Holgado, Vadillo, et al, 2019), which may have obscured important differences between physiological domains.…”

A Single Anodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Session to Enhance Sport-Specific Performance in Trained Individuals? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Particularly in the context of motor functions, there is a growing interest to evaluate the potential of tDCS in high-performance populations, i.e., athletes. This is evident, among other things, in the recent increase in reviews and meta-analyses evaluating the enhancement of motor skills by tDCS in healthy individuals (for further reading please refer to [11-13]). Initial positive findings led to the now-common term Neurodoping [9].…”