Effects of single session cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation on tic symptoms in Tourette's syndrome

Dyke, Katherine; Jackson, Georgina M.; Nixon, Elena; Jackson, Stephen R.

Abstract

Tourette syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by motor and phonic tics. For some, tics can be managed using medication and/or forms of behavioural therapy, however, adverse side effects and access to specialist resources can be barriers to treatment.

In this sham-controlled brain stimulation study, we investigated the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on the occurrence of tics and motor cortical excitability in individuals aged 16-33 years with Tourette syndrome. Changes in tics were measured using video recordings scored using the RUSH method (Goetz et al., 1999) and changes in cortical excitability were measured using single pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (spTMS) over the primary motor cortex (M1). Video recordings and spTMS measures were taken before and after twenty minutes of sham or active tDCS: during which cathodal current was delivered to an electrode placed above the supplementary motor area (SMA).

Tic impairment scores, calculated from the video data, were significantly lower post cathodal stimulation in comparison to post sham stimulation, however the interaction between time (pre/post) and stimulation (cathodal/sham) was not significant There was no indication of a statistically significant change in M1 cortical excitability following SMA stimulation.

This study presents tentative evidence that tDCS may be helpful in reducing tics for some individuals, and provides a foundation for larger scale explorations of the use of tDCS as a treatment for reducing tics.

Citation

Dyke, K., Jackson, G. M., Nixon, E., & Jackson, S. R. (2019). Effects of single session cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation on tic symptoms in Tourette's syndrome. Experimental Brain Research, 237(11), 2853–2863. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-019-05637-5

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 9, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Aug 28, 2019
• Publication Date: Nov 1, 2019
• Deposit Date: Aug 14, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 29, 2020
• Journal: Experimental Brain Research
• Print ISSN: 0014-4819
• Electronic ISSN: 1432-1106
• Publisher: Springer Verlag
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 237
• Issue: 11
• Pages: 2853–2863
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-019-05637-5
• Keywords: Tourette’s syndrome (TS), Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), Supplementary motor area (SMA)
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2427707
• Publisher URL: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00221-019-05637-5
• Additional Information: Received: 9 May 2019; Accepted: 19 August 2019; First Online: 28 August 2019