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Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) of the Right Inferior Frontal Gyrus Attenuates Skin Conductance Responses to Unpredictable Threat Conditions

Patients with panic and post-traumatic stress disorders seem to show increased psychophysiological reactions to conditions of unpredictable (U) threat, which has been discussed as a neurobiological marker of elevated levels of sustained fear in these disorders. Interestingly, a recent study found th...

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Autores principales: Herrmann, Martin J., Beier, Jennifer S., Simons, Bibiane, Polak, Thomas
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4940364/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27462211
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2016.00352
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author Herrmann, Martin J.
Beier, Jennifer S.
Simons, Bibiane
Polak, Thomas
author_facet Herrmann, Martin J.
Beier, Jennifer S.
Simons, Bibiane
Polak, Thomas
author_sort Herrmann, Martin J.
collection PubMed
description Patients with panic and post-traumatic stress disorders seem to show increased psychophysiological reactions to conditions of unpredictable (U) threat, which has been discussed as a neurobiological marker of elevated levels of sustained fear in these disorders. Interestingly, a recent study found that the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG) is correlated to the successful regulation of sustained fear during U threat. Therefore this study aimed to examine the potential use of non-invasive brain stimulation to foster the rIFG by means of anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in order to reduce psychophysiological reactions to U threat. Twenty six participants were randomly assigned into an anodal and sham stimulation group in a double-blinded manner. Anodal and cathodal electrodes (7 * 5 cm) were positioned right frontal to target the rIFG. Stimulation intensity was I = 2 mA applied for 20 min during a task including U threat conditions (NPU-task). The effects of the NPU paradigm were measured by assessing the emotional startle modulation and the skin conductance response (SCR) at the outset of the different conditions. We found a significant interaction effect of condition × tDCS for the SCR (F((2,48)) = 6.3, p < 0.01) without main effects of condition and tDCS. Post hoc tests revealed that the increase in SCR from neutral (N) to U condition was significantly reduced in verum compared to the sham tDCS group (t((24)) = 3.84, p < 0.001). Our results emphasize the causal role of rIFG for emotional regulation and the potential use of tDCS to reduce apprehension during U threat conditions and therefore as a treatment for anxiety disorders.
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spelling pubmed-49403642016-07-26 Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) of the Right Inferior Frontal Gyrus Attenuates Skin Conductance Responses to Unpredictable Threat Conditions Herrmann, Martin J. Beier, Jennifer S. Simons, Bibiane Polak, Thomas Front Hum Neurosci Neuroscience Patients with panic and post-traumatic stress disorders seem to show increased psychophysiological reactions to conditions of unpredictable (U) threat, which has been discussed as a neurobiological marker of elevated levels of sustained fear in these disorders. Interestingly, a recent study found that the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG) is correlated to the successful regulation of sustained fear during U threat. Therefore this study aimed to examine the potential use of non-invasive brain stimulation to foster the rIFG by means of anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in order to reduce psychophysiological reactions to U threat. Twenty six participants were randomly assigned into an anodal and sham stimulation group in a double-blinded manner. Anodal and cathodal electrodes (7 * 5 cm) were positioned right frontal to target the rIFG. Stimulation intensity was I = 2 mA applied for 20 min during a task including U threat conditions (NPU-task). The effects of the NPU paradigm were measured by assessing the emotional startle modulation and the skin conductance response (SCR) at the outset of the different conditions. We found a significant interaction effect of condition × tDCS for the SCR (F((2,48)) = 6.3, p < 0.01) without main effects of condition and tDCS. Post hoc tests revealed that the increase in SCR from neutral (N) to U condition was significantly reduced in verum compared to the sham tDCS group (t((24)) = 3.84, p < 0.001). Our results emphasize the causal role of rIFG for emotional regulation and the potential use of tDCS to reduce apprehension during U threat conditions and therefore as a treatment for anxiety disorders. Frontiers Media S.A. 2016-07-12 /pmc/articles/PMC4940364/ /pubmed/27462211 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2016.00352 Text en Copyright © 2016 Herrmann, Beier, Simons and Polak. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution and reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Neuroscience
Herrmann, Martin J.
Beier, Jennifer S.
Simons, Bibiane
Polak, Thomas
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) of the Right Inferior Frontal Gyrus Attenuates Skin Conductance Responses to Unpredictable Threat Conditions
title Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) of the Right Inferior Frontal Gyrus Attenuates Skin Conductance Responses to Unpredictable Threat Conditions
title_full Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) of the Right Inferior Frontal Gyrus Attenuates Skin Conductance Responses to Unpredictable Threat Conditions
title_fullStr Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) of the Right Inferior Frontal Gyrus Attenuates Skin Conductance Responses to Unpredictable Threat Conditions
title_full_unstemmed Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) of the Right Inferior Frontal Gyrus Attenuates Skin Conductance Responses to Unpredictable Threat Conditions
title_short Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) of the Right Inferior Frontal Gyrus Attenuates Skin Conductance Responses to Unpredictable Threat Conditions
title_sort transcranial direct current stimulation (tdcs) of the right inferior frontal gyrus attenuates skin conductance responses to unpredictable threat conditions
topic Neuroscience
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4940364/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27462211
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2016.00352
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