Abstract
ObjectiveWhether transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can improve upper limb muscle strength and endurance in healthy subjects is still controversial. This article reviews the relevant literature on the use of tDCS to improve upper limb muscle strength and endurance in healthy individuals.MethodsWe systematically searched the Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMBASE, and the Web of Science until September 4, 2021. Randomized parallel or crossover experimental studies on the effects of tDCS on upper limb muscle strength and endurance in healthy individuals were included. Review Manager 5.3 software was used to evaluate methodological quality and analyze the combined effect of the included literature.ResultsTwelve studies (189 participants) were included in the qualitative synthesis, and nine studies (146 participants) were included in the meta-analysis. Compared with the control group, the tDCS intervention had no significant effect on improving upper limb muscle strength [I2 = 0%, 95% CI (−0.79, 0.23), p = 0.98, MD = 0.01]. In this analysis, tDCS had a significant heterogeneity (I2 = 87%) in improving upper limb muscle endurance compared with the control group. After the subgroup analysis and the sensitivity analysis, the source of heterogeneity was excluded. The final results showed that tDCS had a significant effect on improving upper limb muscle endurance [I2 = 0%, 95% CI (1.91, 4.83), p < 0.00001, MD = 3.37].ConclusionstDCS has no significant effect on improvement of upper limb muscle strength, but has a significant effect on improving upper limb endurance performance (especially on the non-dominant side).
Highlights
Exercise performance refers to the collection of the specific physical qualities of the people participating in a certain sport, which is affected by many physical, physiological, and psychological factors, muscle strength and endurance (Hureau et al, 2018; Vaes et al, 2021)
Main Results and Quantitative Synthesis transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) for Improving Muscle Strength of Upper Limb Regarding the effect of tDCS on upper limb muscle strength, this meta-analysis included seven studies
Compared with the control group, the application of anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (a-tDCS) had no significant effect on improving upper limb muscle strength (Z = 0.03, p = 0.98)
Summary
Exercise performance refers to the collection of the specific physical qualities of the people participating in a certain sport, which is affected by many physical, physiological, and psychological factors, muscle strength and endurance (Hureau et al, 2018; Vaes et al, 2021). When researchers explored the physiological mechanism of continuous low-intensity maximal isometric voluntary contraction (MIVC) tasks through transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), they found that the regulation of the central nervous system was the dominant factor shortening the time of task failure (Søgaard et al, 2006; Klass et al, 2008; Lévénez et al, 2008). This implies that the brain may play a vital role in muscle strength and muscle endurance (Fan and Kayser, 2016; Taylor et al, 2016). It has been demonstrated that tDCS is able to alter brain activities and further impact muscle contractions (Nitsche and Paulus, 2000; Stagg and Nitsche, 2011)
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