A dual-mode neurostimulation approach to enhance athletic performance outcome in experienced taekwondo practitioners.

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) is a growing empirical approach to improve athletic performance. Some recent studies have investigated the effects of transcutaneous spinal direct current stimulation (tsDCS) on the motor performance such as reaction time. TDCS and tsDCS can lead to alteration of the spontaneous neural activity, and the membrane potentials of motor neurons in cerebral cortex and spinal interneurons, respectively. Given the paucity of experimental studies on the non-invasive brain stimulation in the field of sports neuroscience, especially martial sports, the present study aimed at investigating the effects of neurostimulation in potentiating the motor and cognitive functions in experienced taekwondo practitioners. The study sample included 15 experienced male taekwondo players who received real or sham direct current stimulation on the primary motor cortex (M1) and the lumbar spinal segment (T12-L2) over two sessions, 72 h apart. Next, the performance of the participants was evaluated through a simulation of taekwondo exercise directly after the sham and real sessions. Moreover, a cognitive platform (CBS: Cambridge Brain Science) was used to investigate the participants' cognitive profile in each instance. Unlike sham stimulation, real tDCS was associated with improved selective attention and reaction time in both in the simulated task performance and cognitive examination. The concurrent cortical and trans-spinal tDCS was found to improve selective attention (31% performance improvement) (P < 0.0001) [EFFECT SIZE; 1.84]. and reduce reaction time (4.7% performance improvement) (P < 0.0001) [EFFECT SIZE; 0.02]. Meanwhile, the intervention failed to leave a significant change in cognitive functions evaluated through CBS (P > 0.05). As informed by our results, the present dual-mode neurostimulation could improve motor functions potentially through the effect of tsDCS over the spinal interneurons and tDCS over the primary motor cortex. Likewise, our findings suggested an improved performance in simulated taekwondo task after real- but not sham-stimulation. This study paves the way for designing neurostimulation protocols to improve the performance of professional athletes, namely martial art practitioners, including their accuracy and velocity of reactions. Such positive effects of neuostimulation in athletic performance as demonstrated in this research and similar reports are expected to enhance the athletes' success in professional competitions.

Toward reanimating the laughter-involved large-scale brain networks to alleviate affective symptoms.

INTRODUCTION: The practicality of the idea whether the laughter-involved large-scale brain networks can be stimulated to remediate affective symptoms, namely depression, has remained elusive. METHODS: In this study, 25 healthy individuals were tested through 21-channel quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG) setup upon resting state and while submitted to standardized funny video clips (corated by two behavioral neuroscientists and a verified expert comedian, into neutral and mildly to highly funny). We evaluated the individuals' facial expressions against the valence and intensity of each stimulus through the Nuldos face analysis software. The study also employed an eye-tracking setup to examine fixations, gaze, and saccadic movements upon each task. In addition, changes in polygraphic parameters were monitored upon resting state and exposure to clips using the 4-channel Nexus polygraphy setup. RESULTS: The happy facial expression analysis, as a function of rated funny clips, showed a significant difference against neutral videos (p < 0.001). In terms of the polygraphic changes, heart rate variability and the trapezius muscle surface electromyography measures were significantly higher upon exposure to funny vs. neutral videos (p < 0.5). The average pupil size and fixation drifts were significantly higher and lower, respectively, upon exposure to funny videos (p < 0.01). The qEEG data revealed the highest current source density (CSD) for the alpha frequency band localized in the left frontotemporal network (FTN) upon exposure to funny clips. Additionally, left FTN acquired the highest value for theta coherence z-score, while the beta CSD predominantly fell upon the salience network (SN). CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary data support the notion that left FTN may be targeted as a cortical hub for noninvasive neuromodulation as a single or adjunct therapy in remediating affective disorders in the clinical setting. Further studies are needed to test the hypotheses derived from the present report.