Update on the Use of Transcranial Electrical Brain Stimulation to Manage Acute and Chronic COVID-19 Symptoms

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in the urgent need to develop and deploy treatment approaches that can minimize mortality and morbidity. As infection, resulting illness, and the often prolonged recovery period continue to be characterized, therapeutic roles for transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) have emerged as promising non-pharmacological interventions. tES techniques have established therapeutic potential for managing a range of conditions relevant to COVID-19 illness and recovery, and may further be relevant for the general management of increased mental health problems during this time. Furthermore, these tES techniques can be inexpensive, portable, and allow for trained self-administration. Here, we summarize the rationale for using tES techniques, specifically transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS), across the COVID-19 clinical course, and index ongoing efforts to evaluate the inclusion of tES optimal clinical care.

Modulating neuroinflammation in COVID-19 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder

“…This study further finds a reduction of cortical GABAergic and possibly cholinergic activity in post-COVID-19 patients suffering from fatigue or cognitive disturbances ( Versace et al, 2021 ). If performed in conventional frontal and temporal cortical regions, neuromodulation could be used to modulate the systemic immune response and, therefore, could contribute to prevention of COVID-19 induced neuroinflammation ( Pilloni et al, 2020 ).…”

Repurposing Donepezil to Treat COVID-19: A Call for Retrospective Analysis of Existing Patient Datasets

“…The preceding section outlined our reasoning supporting donepezil as a potential therapy for those in high-risk groups associated with increased inflammation. Previous reports have also discussed manipulating cholinergic signal transmission as a COVID-19 therapeutic strategy [73,[101][102][103][104][105]. There are four clinical trials currently underway examining manipulation of the CAP to treat COVID-19.…”

TDCS in a patient with dreadlocks: Improvements in COVID-19 related verbal fluency dysfunction

“…The enduring neuropsychological impacts of COVID-19, termed PASC (post-acute sequelae SARS-CoV-2 infection), remain poorly understood. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is an appealing treatment for PASC because of the tolerability and feasibility of home use and emerging evidence for efficacy [ 1 ]. Here we describe a person with PASC presenting with speech and language dysfluency, a symptom responsive to frontal tDCS treatment [ 2 ].…”