Hupfeld K E, Ketcham C J, Schneider H D
Department of Exercise Science, Elon University, 2525 Campus Box, Elon, NC, 27244, USA.
Brain Function Laboratory, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
Exp Brain Res. 2017 Mar;235(3):851-859. doi: 10.1007/s00221-016-4848-5. Epub 2016 Dec 1.
The supplementary motor area (SMA) is believed to be highly involved in the planning and execution of both simple and complex motor tasks. This study aimed to examine the role of the SMA in planning the movements required to complete reaction time, balance, and pegboard tasks using anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), which passes a weak electrical current between two electrodes, in order to modulate neuronal activity. Twenty healthy adults were counterbalanced to receive either tDCS (experimental condition) or no tDCS (control condition) for 3 days. During administration of tDCS, participants performed a balance task significantly faster than controls. After tDCS, subjects significantly improved their simple and choice reaction time. These results demonstrate that the SMA is highly involved in planning and executing fine and gross motor skill tasks and that tDCS is an effective modality for increasing SMA-related performance on these tasks. The findings may be generalizable and therefore indicate implications for future interventions using tDCS as a therapeutic tool.
辅助运动区（SMA）被认为高度参与简单和复杂运动任务的计划与执行。本研究旨在使用阳极经颅直流电刺激（tDCS）来检验SMA在计划完成反应时间、平衡和钉板任务所需运动中的作用，tDCS在两个电极之间传递弱电流，以调节神经元活动。20名健康成年人被随机分组，分别接受为期3天的tDCS（实验组）或不接受tDCS（对照组）。在tDCS给药期间，参与者执行平衡任务的速度明显快于对照组。tDCS后，受试者的简单反应时间和选择反应时间显著改善。这些结果表明，SMA高度参与精细和粗略运动技能任务的计划与执行，并且tDCS是提高这些任务中与SMA相关表现的有效方式。这些发现可能具有普遍性，因此表明了将tDCS用作治疗工具的未来干预措施的意义。
