Abstract
BackgroundTranscranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a neuromodulation tool used to modify the cognitive function in subjects. There is a paucity of data on tDCS’ effect on cognitive function during Ramadan fasting. This paper aims to assess the effect of tDCS of three brain areas, including the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), posterior parietal cortex (PPC), and cerebellum on cognitive function, and obtain safety data in healthy adults during Ramadan fasting. Methods and materialA total of 42 healthy, right-handed participants were randomly assigned to one of the 6 stimulation groups: active (anodal)-tDCS of right DLPFC, PPC, and cerebellum; or sham for DLPFC, PPC, and cerebellum after 8 h of fasting for Ramadan. Safety data and cognitive function, such as attention-switching tasks (AST), were obtained by employing the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) before and after each tDCS session. The cognitive function outcome variables were the response time and the percentage of correct answers in AST. For sham stimulation, the placement of the electrodes was the same as for the active stimulation. ResultsAn improvement in performance time in attention tasks was observed; however, it did not reach a significant level after anodal stimulation of the DLPFC, PPC, and cerebellum. Overall, there were no statistically significant differences between the active and sham tDCS groups in cognitive function. There were no significant side effects of tDCS during fasting for any group. ConclusionsOur data suggest that there are variable effects of tDCS on attention tasks during Ramadan fasting. TDCS appears to be safe, well-tolerated and adhered to the international standard of safety in the local population during Ramadan fasting. Further large sample size studies should be conducted to validate the current study findings and reach better conclusions.
Highlights
Participants were randomly assigned to the brain area of stimulation (DLPFC, posterior parietal cortex (PPC), and cerebellum) and order of stimulation
This study investigated cognitive function for attention and the safety aspect of Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in a cohort of healthy individuals practicing Ramadan fasting
Focusing on the attention domain, we investigated how tDCS over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), PPC, and cerebellum affects attentional processing in healthy subjects during Ramadan fasting
Summary
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is one of the noninvasive brain stimulation methods that is increasingly used in basic neuroscience research (Nitsche and Paulus, 2001; Stagg and Nitsche, 2011; Cappon et al, 2016), or to evaluate the possible therapeutic effects in neurological and psychiatric disorders (Woods et al, 2016; Kuo, and Nitsche, 2012; Flöel, 2014; Kuo et al, 2014; Bennabi and Haffen, 2018). This paper aims to assess the effect of tDCS of three brain areas, including the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), posterior parietal cortex (PPC), and cerebellum on cognitive function, and obtain safety data in healthy adults during Ramadan fasting. Methods and material: A total of 42 healthy, right-handed participants were randomly assigned to one of the 6 stimulation groups: active (anodal)-tDCS of right DLPFC, PPC, and cerebellum; or sham for DLPFC, PPC, and cerebellum after 8 h of fasting for Ramadan. Safety data and cognitive function, such as attention-switching tasks (AST), were obtained by employing the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) before and after each tDCS session. Conclusions: Our data suggest that there are variable effects of tDCS on attention tasks during Ramadan fasting. Further large sample size studies should be conducted to validate the current study findings and reach better conclusions
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