Department of Motor Behavior and Corrective Exercises, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran.
Exercise Metabolism and Performance Lab (EMPL), Department of Exercise Physiology, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran.
Behav Brain Funct. 2024 Aug 22;20(1):20. doi: 10.1186/s12993-024-00247-w.
This study investigated the effects of repetitive unihemispheric concurrent dual-site anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (a-tDCS) associated with the use of virtual reality games (VR) on the motor coordination of sedentary adolescent girls.
Thirty-six inactive adolescent girls were randomly assigned into 3 groups (n = 12 per group): (1) VR + a-tDCS, (2) VR + sham-tDCS, and (3) Control. The VR + a-tDCS and VR + s-tDCS groups received the intervention three times a week for four weeks. In each experimental session, participants first received either 20 min of a-tDCS (2 mA at each anodal electrode) targeting the primary motor cortex (M1) and the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) or sham and then performed VR for 1 h. The control group received no intervention. Eye-hand coordination (EHC) and bimanual coordination (BC) were measured at baseline, post-intervention, and two weeks later (retention test) using the automatic scoring mirror tracer and continuous two-arm coordination test, respectively.
Results showed that the EHC was significantly higher in the VR + a-tDCS and VR + s-tDCS groups at post-intervention (all ps< 0.001) and the retention test (all ps< 0.001) compared to the control group. Moreover, the EHC was significantly higher in the VR + a-tDCS group compared to the VR + s-tDCS group (p = 0.024) at the retention. Similarly, VR + a-tDCS and VR + s-tDCS improved BC compared to the control group at post-intervention (all ps< 0.001) and retention test (all ps< 0.001). In addition, higher BC was observed in the VR + a-tDCS group compared to the VR + s-tDCS group (p< 0.001) at the retention test.
Our results suggest that adding a-tDCS to VR over 12 sessions may have an additional effect on VR training for improving and retaining motor coordination in sedentary adolescent girls.
本研究旨在探讨重复性单侧同时双侧阳极经颅直流电刺激（a-tDCS）联合虚拟现实游戏（VR）对久坐不动的青春期少女运动协调能力的影响。
36 名不活跃的青春期少女被随机分为 3 组（每组 12 人）：（1）VR+a-tDCS，（2）VR+假刺激-tDCS，和（3）对照组。VR+a-tDCS 和 VR+假刺激-tDCS 组每周接受三次干预，共四周。在每个实验中，参与者首先接受 20 分钟的 a-tDCS（每个阳极电极 2 mA），靶向初级运动皮层（M1）和左侧背外侧前额叶皮层（DLPFC），或假刺激，然后进行 1 小时的 VR。对照组不接受干预。使用自动评分镜追踪器和连续双臂协调测试分别在基线、干预后和两周后（保留测试）测量眼手协调（EHC）和双手协调（BC）。
结果表明，与对照组相比，VR+a-tDCS 和 VR+假刺激-tDCS 组在干预后（所有 p<0.001）和保留测试（所有 p<0.001）时 EHC 显著提高。此外，与 VR+假刺激-tDCS 组相比，VR+a-tDCS 组在保留测试时 EHC 显著提高（p=0.024）。同样，与对照组相比，VR+a-tDCS 和 VR+假刺激-tDCS 在干预后（所有 p<0.001）和保留测试（所有 p<0.001）时 BC 均得到改善。此外，与 VR+假刺激-tDCS 组相比，VR+a-tDCS 组在保留测试时 BC 更高（p<0.001）。
我们的结果表明，在 12 个疗程中，将 a-tDCS 与 VR 结合使用可能对 VR 训练有额外的效果，从而提高和保持久坐不动的青春期少女的运动协调能力。
