Abstract
The purpose was to explore the effects of transcutaneous trigeminal nerve stimulation (TNS) on neurochemical concentrations (brainstem, anterior cingulate cortex [ACC], dorsolateral prefrontal cortex [DLPFC], ventromedial prefrontal cortex [VMPFC], and the posterior cingulate cortex [PCC]) using ultrahigh-field magnetic resonance spectroscopy. This double-blinded study tested 32 healthy males (age: 25.4±7.3years) on two separate occasions where participants received either a 20-minute TNS or sham session. Participants were scanned at baseline and twice post-TNS/sham administration. There were no group differences in concentration changes of glutamate, gamma-aminobutyric acid, glutamine, myoinositol (mI), total N-acetylaspartate, total creatine (tCr), and total choline between the baseline scan and the first post-TNS/sham scan and between the first and second post-TNS/sham scan in the brainstem, ACC, DLPFC, VMPFC, and PCC. Between the baseline scan and the second post-TNS/sham scan, changes in tCr (mean difference=0.280mM [0.075 to 0.485], p=.026) and mI (mean difference=0.662mM [0.203 to 1.122], p=.026) in the DLPFC differed between groups. Post hoc analyses indicated that there was a decrease in tCr (mean change=-0.201mM [-0.335 to -0.067], p=.003) and no change in mI (mean change=-0.327mM [-0.737 to 0.083], p=.118) in the TNS group; conversely, there was no change in tCr (mean change=-0.100mM [-0.074 to 0.274], p=.259) and an increase in mI (mean change=0.347mM [0.106 to 0.588], p=.005) in the sham group. These data demonstrate that a single session of unilateral TNS slightly decreased tCr concentrations in the DLPFC region.
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