Laboratory of Neuromodulation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
J ECT. 2011 Jun;27(2):134-40. doi: 10.1097/YCT.0b013e3181e631a8.
: The use of noninvasive cortical electrical stimulation with weak currents has significantly increased in basic and clinical human studies. Initial, preliminary studies with this technique have shown encouraging results; however, the safety and tolerability of this method of brain stimulation have not been sufficiently explored yet. The purpose of our study was to assess the effects of direct current (DC) and alternating current (AC) stimulation at different intensities in order to measure their effects on cognition, mood, and electroencephalogram.
: Eighty-two healthy, right-handed subjects received active and sham stimulation in a randomized order. We conducted 164 ninety-minute sessions of electrical stimulation in 4 different protocols to assess safety of (1) anodal DC of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC); (2) cathodal DC of the DLPFC; (3) intermittent anodal DC of the DLPFC and; (4) AC on the zygomatic process. We used weak currents of 1 to 2 mA (for DC experiments) or 0.1 to 0.2 mA (for AC experiment).
: We found no significant changes in electroencephalogram, cognition, mood, and pain between groups and a low prevalence of mild adverse effects (0.11% and 0.08% in the active and sham stimulation groups, respectively), mainly, sleepiness and mild headache that were equally distributed between groups.
: Here, we show no neurophysiological or behavioral signs that transcranial DC stimulation or AC stimulation with weak currents induce deleterious changes when comparing active and sham groups. This study provides therefore additional information for researchers and ethics committees, adding important results to the safety pool of studies assessing the effects of cortical stimulation using weak electrical currents. Further studies in patients with neuropsychiatric disorders are warranted.
利用弱电流的无创皮层电刺激在基础和临床人体研究中得到了显著增加。 初步的初步研究表明该技术具有令人鼓舞的结果； 然而，这种脑刺激方法的安全性和耐受性尚未得到充分探索。 我们的研究目的是评估不同强度的直流电 (DC) 和交流电 (AC) 刺激的效果，以测量它们对认知、情绪和脑电图的影响。
82 名健康的右利手受试者以随机顺序接受主动和假刺激。 我们进行了 164 次 90 分钟的电刺激，共 4 个不同的方案，以评估安全性：（1）背外侧前额叶皮层（DLPFC）的阳极直流电；（2）DLPFC 的阴极直流电；（3）DLPFC 的间歇性阳极直流电；（4）颧骨上的交流电。 我们使用 1 至 2 mA 的弱电流（用于 DC 实验）或 0.1 至 0.2 mA（用于 AC 实验）。
我们发现组间脑电图、认知、情绪和疼痛均无显著变化，轻度不良反应发生率低（主动刺激组为 0.11%，假刺激组为 0.08%），主要为困倦和轻度头痛，两组之间分布均匀。
在这里，我们没有发现神经生理学或行为学迹象表明，与主动组相比，经颅直流电刺激或弱电流交流电刺激会引起有害变化。 因此，这项研究为研究人员和伦理委员会提供了额外的信息，为使用弱电流评估皮层刺激效果的研究的安全性提供了重要结果。 需要进一步研究神经精神障碍患者。
