Rodriguez-Manrique Daniela, Ruan Hanyang, Winkelmann Chelsea, Haun Julian, Gigl Sandra, Berberich Götz, Zimmer Claus, Koch Kathrin
Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
Neuroimaging Centre (TUM-NIC), Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
Transl Psychiatry. 2025 May 19;15(1):173. doi: 10.1038/s41398-025-03381-9.
Inhibition deficits constitute a core characteristic of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). There is evidence in healthy individuals that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of the pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA) leads to a significantly improved inhibition performance. Against this background we investigated the effects of pre-SMA tDCS on inhibition performance and the underlying neural correlates in patients with OCD. Using a double-blind, randomized, sham-controlled, cross-over design (i.e., tDCS sham vs. tDCS stimulation) we investigated the effects of 2 mA anodal tDCS stimulation of the right pre-SMA in a sample of 47 OCD patients. The present study is, to our best knowledge, the first study applying concurrent tDCS-fMRI in patients with OCD. tDCS was applied using the MRI-compatible NeuroConn DC-Stimulator which allowed for a concurrent stimulation, while patients performed an inhibition (i.e., Stroop) task in a 3 T MRI. Imaging data were analysed using a multivariate partial least squares (PLS) approach. tDCS stimulation (vs. sham) was associated with increased activation in a fronto-parieto-cerebellar network comprising, amongst others, the precentral, middle frontal and inferior frontal gyrus, the anterior cingulate and the superior parietal lobe. On the performance level, tDCS stimulation (vs. sham) was linked to an improved inhibition performance in terms of an increased percentage of correct responses in the Stroop task. Present results indicate that tDCS in patients with OCD goes along with an improved inhibition performance as well as activation increases in regions known to be involved in inhibition, motor, and cognitive control. Thus, our findings suggest that tDCS might be a promising method to improve specific impairments in OCD.
抑制缺陷是强迫症(OCD)的核心特征。健康个体的证据表明,经颅直流电刺激(tDCS)辅助运动前区(pre-SMA)可显著改善抑制能力。在此背景下,我们研究了pre-SMA tDCS对OCD患者抑制能力及潜在神经相关性的影响。采用双盲、随机、假刺激对照、交叉设计(即tDCS假刺激与tDCS刺激),我们对47例OCD患者样本进行了2 mA阳极tDCS刺激右侧pre-SMA的效果研究。据我们所知,本研究是第一项对OCD患者同时应用tDCS-fMRI的研究。使用与MRI兼容的NeuroConn DC刺激器进行tDCS刺激,该刺激器允许在患者于3 T MRI中执行抑制(即Stroop)任务时同时进行刺激。使用多变量偏最小二乘法(PLS)对成像数据进行分析。tDCS刺激(与假刺激相比)与额顶小脑网络激活增加有关,该网络包括中央前回、额中回和额下回、前扣带回和顶上叶等。在行为水平上,tDCS刺激(与假刺激相比)与Stroop任务中正确反应百分比增加所反映的抑制能力改善有关。目前的结果表明,OCD患者的tDCS与抑制能力改善以及已知参与抑制、运动和认知控制的区域激活增加有关。因此,我们的研究结果表明,tDCS可能是改善OCD特定损伤的一种有前景的方法。