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

Hadi, Zaeem; Umbreen, Aysha; Anwar, Muhammad Ayaz; Navid, Muhammad Samran

doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2021.147656

“…This interpretation aligns with previous studies showing that tDCS improved shooting precision in ballistic sports like tennis or basketball [25][26][27] . Overall, our findings on skill learning also fit with recent research showing promising effects of tDCS compared to sham (mostly applied to M1 or the pre-frontal cortex) in the context of open 28 , laparoscopic [29][30][31][32][33] , robot-assisted 34 , and virtual reality 35 surgical training.…”

Section: Cb-atdcs Shamsupporting

confidence: 89%

Anodal Cerebellar t-DCS Impacts Skill Learning and Transfer on a Robotic Surgery Training Task

Caccianiga

¹

,

Mooney²,

Celnik³

et al. 2023

Preprint

0

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The cerebellum has demonstrated a critical role during adaptation in motor learning. However, the extent to which it can contribute to the skill acquisition of complex real-world tasks remains unclear. One particularly challenging application in terms of motor activities is robotic surgery, which requires surgeons to complete complex multidimensional visuomotor tasks through a remotely operated robot. Given the need for high skill proficiency and the lack of haptic feedback, there is a pressing need for understanding and improving skill development. We investigated the effect of cerebellar transcranial direct current stimulation applied during the execution of a robotic surgery training task. Study participants received either real or sham stimulation while performing a needle driving task in a virtual (simulated) and a real-world (actual surgical robot) setting. We found that cerebellar stimulation significantly improved performance compared to sham stimulation at fast (more demanding) execution speeds in both virtual and real-world training settings. Furthermore, participants that received cerebellar stimulation more effectively transferred the skills they acquired during virtual training to the real world. Our findings underline the potential of non-invasive brain stimulation to enhance skill learning and transfer in real-world relevant tasks and, more broadly, its potential for improving complex motor learning.

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M1 transcranial direct current stimulation augments laparoscopic surgical skill acquisition

Galvin,

Toth,

O’Reilly

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

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The acquisition of basic surgical skills is a key component of medical education and trainees in laparoscopic surgery typically begin developing their skills using simulation box trainers. However, despite the advantages of simulation surgical training, access can be difficult for many trainees. One technique that has shown promise to enhance the deliberate practice of motor skills is transcranial electric stimulation (tES). The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on training induced improvements and retention of traditional time and kinematic based laparoscopic surgical skill metrics. Forty-nine medical students were randomly allocated to a neurostimulation or sham group and completed 5 training sessions of a bead transfer and threading laparoscopic task. Participants in both the sham and stimulation groups significantly improved their time and kinematic performance on both tasks following training. Although we did find that participants who received M1 tDCS saw greater performance benefits in response to training on a bead transfer task compared to those receiving sham stimulation no effect of neurostimulation was found for the threading task. This finding raises new questions regarding the effect that motor task complexity has on the efficacy of neurostimulation to augment training induced improvement and contributes to a growing body of research investigating the effects of neurostimulation on the sensory-motor performance of laparoscopic surgical skill.

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Anodal cerebellar t-DCS impacts skill learning and transfer on a robotic surgery training task

Caccianiga,

Mooney,

Celnik

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

0

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The cerebellum has demonstrated a critical role during adaptation in motor learning. However, the extent to which it can contribute to the skill acquisition of complex real-world tasks remains unclear. One particularly challenging application in terms of motor activities is robotic surgery, which requires surgeons to complete complex multidimensional visuomotor tasks through a remotely operated robot. Given the need for high skill proficiency and the lack of haptic feedback, there is a pressing need for understanding and improving skill development. We investigated the effect of cerebellar transcranial direct current stimulation applied during the execution of a robotic surgery training task. Study participants received either real or sham stimulation while performing a needle driving task in a virtual (simulated) and a real-world (actual surgical robot) setting. We found that cerebellar stimulation significantly improved performance compared to sham stimulation at fast (more demanding) execution speeds in both virtual and real-world training settings. Furthermore, participants that received cerebellar stimulation more effectively transferred the skills they acquired during virtual training to the real world. Our findings underline the potential of non-invasive brain stimulation to enhance skill learning and transfer in real-world relevant tasks and, more broadly, its potential for improving complex motor learning.

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

Cited by 4 publications

References 53 publications

Anodal Cerebellar t-DCS Impacts Skill Learning and Transfer on a Robotic Surgery Training Task

Anodal Cerebellar t-DCS Impacts Skill Learning and Transfer on a Robotic Surgery Training Task

M1 transcranial direct current stimulation augments laparoscopic surgical skill acquisition

Anodal cerebellar t-DCS impacts skill learning and transfer on a robotic surgery training task

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