Therapeutic effects of anodal transcranial direct current stimulation in a rat model of ADHD.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 32955434.
- Also identified by DOI 10.7554/eLife.56359 and PMC identifier 7535928.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Most therapeutic candidates for treating attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have focused on modulating the dopaminergic neurotransmission system with neurotrophic factors. Regulation of this system by transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) could contribute to the recovery of cognitive symptoms observed in patients with ADHD. Here, male spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) were subjected to consecutive high-definition tDCS (HD-tDCS) (20 min, 50 μA, current density 63.7 A/m<sup>2</sup>, charge density 76.4 kC/m<sup>2</sup>) over the prefrontal cortex. This treatment alleviated cognitive deficits, with an increase in tyrosine hydroxylase and vesicular monoamine transporter two and significantly decreased plasma membrane reuptake transporter (DAT). HD-tDCS application increased the expression of several neurotrophic factors, particularly brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and activated hippocampal neurogenesis. Our results suggest that anodal HD-tDCS over the prefrontal cortex may ameliorate cognitive dysfunction via regulation of DAT and BDNF in the mesocorticolimbic dopaminergic pathways, and therefore represents a potential adjuvant therapy for ADHD.
Medical subject headings
- Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity
- Prefrontal Cortex
- Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation