Non-Invasive Electric and Magnetic Brain Stimulation for the Treatment of Fibromyalgia.

Although fibromyalgia is defined by its core muscular nociceptive component, it also includes multiple dysfunctions that involve the musculoskeletal, gastrointestinal, immune, endocrine, as well as the central and peripheral nervous systems, amongst others. The pathogenic involvement of the nervous system and the numerous neurological and neuroinflammatory symptoms of this disease may benefit from neuromodulatory stimulation techniques that have been shown to be effective and safe in diverse nervous system pathologies. In this systematic review, we outline current evidence showing the potential of non-invasive brain stimulation techniques, such as therapeutic strategies in fibromyalgia.

Effects of tDCS applied over the left IFG and pSTG language areas on verb recognition task performance.

Knowledge about the relevance of the left inferior frontal gyrus (lIFG) and the left posterior superior temporal gyrus (lpSTG) in visual recognition of word categories is limited at present. tDCS is a non-invasive brain stimulation method that alters cortical activity and excitability, and thus might be a useful tool for delineating the specific impact of both areas on word recognition. The objective of this study was to explore whether the visual recognition process of verb categories is improved by a single tDCS session.

Non-Invasive Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation for the Treatment of Fibromyalgia Symptoms: A Study Protocol.

Stimulation of the vagus nerve, a parasympathetic nerve that controls the neuro-digestive, vascular, and immune systems, induces pain relief, particularly in clinical conditions such as headache and rheumatoid arthritis. Transmission through vagal afferents towards the nucleus of the solitary tract (NST), the central relay nucleus of the vagus nerve, has been proposed as the main physiological mechanism that reduces pain intensity after vagal stimulation. Chronic pain symptoms of fibromyalgia patients might benefit from stimulation of the vagus nerve via normalization of altered autonomic and immune systems causing their respective symptoms.

Discernible effects of tDCS over the primary motor and posterior parietal cortex on different stages of motor learning.

Implicit motor learning and memory involve complex cortical and subcortical networks. The induction of plasticity in these network components via non-invasive brain stimulation, including transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), has shown to improve motor learning. However, studies showing these effects are mostly restricted to stimulation of the primary motor cortex (M1) during the early stage of learning.

Standard Non-Personalized Electric Field Modeling of Twenty Typical tDCS Electrode Configurations via the Computational Finite Element Method: Contributions and Limitations of Two Different Approaches.

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation procedure to modulate cortical excitability and related brain functions. tDCS can effectively alter multiple brain functions in healthy humans and is suggested as a therapeutic tool in several neurological and psychiatric diseases. However, variability of results is an important limitation of this method.

Taste Processing: Insights from Animal Models.

Taste processing is an adaptive mechanism involving complex physiological, motivational and cognitive processes. Animal models have provided relevant data about the neuroanatomical and neurobiological components of taste processing. From these models, two important domains of taste responses are described in this review.

Temporal specificity of latent inhibition in rats with daily water restriction prior to taste conditioning.

Temporal specificity of latent inhibition of conditioned taste aversion (CTA) has been demonstrated after prolonged habituation to temporal contexts in the stages preceding conditioning, and it has been eliminated by restricting consumption during conditioning. However, it is not known if latent inhibition of CTA is still dependent on the temporal context when fluid consumption is limited in the stages prior to conditioning. We tested temporal specificity of latent inhibition in rats with (different time of day for the conditioning stage) and without (same time of day for pre-exposure and conditioning stages) temporal changes on the conditioning day.

Bilateral Prefrontal Cortex Anodal tDCS Effects on Self-reported Aggressiveness in Imprisoned Violent Offenders.

Reduced activity of the frontal lobes, and particularly of the prefrontal cortex, has been related with violent behavior, aggression and crime. The causal importance of prefrontal cortex activity for aggressive behaviors and the self-perception of aggressiveness needs however to be clarified. The aim of this study was to explore the effect of an anodal transcranial direct current stimulation protocol (tDCS, 1.

Poststimulation time interval-dependent effects of motor cortex anodal tDCS on reaction-time task performance.

Anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) induces long-term potentiation-like plasticity, which is associated with long-lasting effects on different cognitive, emotional, and motor performances. Specifically, tDCS applied over the motor cortex is considered to improve reaction time in simple and complex tasks. The timing of tDCS relative to task performance could determine the efficacy of tDCS to modulate performance.

Effects of lesions in different nuclei of the amygdala on conditioned taste aversion.

Conditioned taste aversion (CTA) is an adaptive learning that depends on brain mechanisms not completely identified. The amygdala is one of the structures that make up these mechanisms, but the involvement of its nuclei in the acquisition of CTA is unclear. Lesion studies suggest that the basolateral complex of the amygdala, including the basolateral and lateral amygdala, could be involved in CTA.

Applications of transcranial direct current stimulation in children and pediatrics.

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a neuromodulatory noninvasive brain stimulation tool with potential to increase or reduce regional and remote cortical excitability. Numerous studies have shown the ability of this technique to induce neuroplasticity and to modulate cognition and behavior in adults. Clinical studies have also demonstrated the ability of tDCS to induce therapeutic effects in several central nervous system disorders.

Parietal transcranial direct current stimulation modulates primary motor cortex excitability.

The posterior parietal cortex is part of the cortical network involved in motor learning and is structurally and functionally connected with the primary motor cortex (M1). Neuroplastic alterations of neuronal connectivity might be an important basis for learning processes. These have however not been explored for parieto-motor connections in humans by transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS).