Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Decreases the Decline of Speed during Repeated Sprinting in Basketball Athletes.

Che-Hsiu Chen,Chih-Hui Chiu,Yu-Chun Chen,Ren-Shiang Jiang,I-Lin Wang,Lok-Yin Lo

doi:10.3390/ijerph18136967

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine whether transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can improve countermovement jump performance, fatigue index and alleviate the speed decline during repeated shuttle sprints in trained basketball players. Thirteen trained basketball players were divided into the tDCS trial and sham trial by the random crossover design. The tDCS trial was stimulated with 2-mA current in the M1 area in the middle of the top of the head for 20 min. For the sham trial, the current was turned off after 5 s, stopping the electrical stimulation. After warming up, the players underwent countermovement jump test, weighted countermovement jump test and then performed 40 × 15-m sprints with with a 1:4 exercise: rest ratio. The jump height, sprinting time, fatigue index, heart rate and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) were analyzed by paired-sample t-test, when significance was discovered by two-way repeated measures analysis of variance. The study results revealed that the tDCS trial significantly increase the countermovement jump performance (p = 0.04), decrease the sprinting time (p = 0.016), and had improved fatigue index during the sprinting process (p = 0.009). However, the heart rate and RPE during sprinting were nonsignificantly different between the trials. This study has identified that tDCS can decrease the speed decline, fatigue index during sprinting and increase countermovement jump performance without affecting heart rate or the rating of perceived exertion.

Highlights

In transcranial direct current stimulation, which is a noninvasive brain stimulation, a weak and continuous electric current is employed to stimulate the scalp and is transmitted to the brain [1]
The goal of this study was to determine whether transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can improve countermovement jump performance, fatigue index, reduce the decline in speed, heart rate and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) of trained basketball players during repeated shuttle sprints
The present results demonstrated that tDCS helped participants maintain high sprint speed during sprints 21–40

Summary

Introduction

In transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), which is a noninvasive brain stimulation, a weak and continuous electric current is employed to stimulate the scalp and is transmitted to the brain [1]. Several studies have indicated that tDCS can increase the excitability of the brain’s motor cortex, and improve exercise performance [7,8]. Some studies reported that the use of 1–2 mA tDCS for 10 to 20 min before exercise activated the motor cortex and sequentially improved the isometric contraction ability, muscle strength, and power of the participants [6]. A 20-min session of tDCS maintained favorable exercise performance in three consecutive days of high-intensity resistance training in untrained participants. These participants had lower perceived fatigue during exercise when they had undergone tDCS.

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