Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL.
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO.
Schizophr Bull. 2018 Oct 17;44(6):1373-1380. doi: 10.1093/schbul/sbx179.
The present double-blind crossover study examines the effects of cerebellar transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in controls and in an analogue population to psychosis: individuals reporting elevated symptoms of nonclinical psychosis (NCP). A total of 18 controls and 24 NCP individuals were randomized into conditions consisting of 25 minutes of anodal (active) or sham cerebellar tDCS. Following this, both groups completed a pursuit rotor task designed to measure procedural learning performance. Participants then returned 1-week later and received the corresponding condition (either active or sham) and repeated the pursuit rotor task. Results indicate that in the sham condition, control participants showed significantly greater rates of motor learning when compared with the NCP group. In the active condition, the NCP group exhibited significant improvements in the rate of motor learning and performed at a level that was comparable to controls; these data support the link between cerebellar dysfunction and motor learning. Taken together, tDCS may be a promising treatment mechanism for patient populations and a useful experimental approach in elucidating our understanding of psychosis.
本双盲交叉研究旨在探讨小脑经颅直流电刺激（tDCS）对对照组和类似精神病人群（即报告出现非临床精神病症状升高的个体）的影响。共有 18 名对照组和 24 名非临床精神病个体被随机分为两种条件，分别接受 25 分钟的阳极（主动）或小脑假 tDCS。在此之后，两组都完成了一个追踪旋转器任务，旨在测量程序性学习表现。参与者一周后返回并接受相应的条件（主动或假），并重复追踪旋转器任务。结果表明，在假刺激条件下，与非临床精神病组相比，对照组参与者的运动学习速度明显更快。在主动刺激条件下，非临床精神病组的运动学习速度显著提高，表现水平与对照组相当；这些数据支持小脑功能障碍与运动学习之间的联系。综上所述，tDCS 可能是一种有前途的治疗机制，适用于患者群体，也是阐明我们对精神病理解的有用实验方法。
