Neuromodulation of Executive Dysfunction in Patients with Acute Stroke Using Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation: Study Protocol for a Triple-Blind, Randomized Sham-Controlled Trial.

Research on the benefits of non-invasive brain stimulation in stroke patients to improve executive functions is scarce. The objective of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in combination with cognitive training for the rehabilitation of executive functions in acute and subacute stroke patients as well as to explore the underlying physiological mechanisms. A triple-blinded, randomized-controlled clinical trial will be conducted involving 60 stroke patients with frontal or basal ganglia lesions and a Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score less than 26.

From non-problematic smartphone use to smartphone addiction: Impulsivity-based profiles.

Problematic smartphone use (PSU) is an uncontrollable behavior that impedes the ability to stop using it despite potential negative consequences. This excessive behavior has been considered in the research field as a behavioral addiction, as literature has shown common characteristics with behavioral addictions, including its impulsivity-driven factor. However, impulsivity is a multidimensional construct whose specific traits lead differently to each addiction.

Social Expectancy Increases Skin Conductance Response in Mobile Instant Messaging Users.

Background: Society is witnessing two parallel phenomena: an increase in the number of mobile phone users worldwide and a growing concern about problematic smartphone use. Leading explanatory models suggest that social reward may explain some problematic smartphone use. Given that experimental evidence about the impact of social variables on problematic smartphone use is scarce, the impact of social expectancy on emotional arousal measured with skin conductance response (SCR) was analysed during instant messaging.

Decision-making and frontoparietal resting-state functional connectivity among impulsive-compulsive diagnoses. Insights from a Bayesian approach.

The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) is one of the most widely used paradigms for assessing decision-making. An impairment in this process may be linked to several psychopathological disorders, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), substance abuse disorder (SUD) or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which could make it a good candidate for being consider a transdiagnostic domain. Resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) has been proposed as a promising biomarker of decision-making.

Transcranial direct current stimulation improves risky decision making in women but not in men: A sham-controlled study.

Behavioral and anatomical sex-related differences have been traditionally found in decision-making processes assessed by Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). So far, the administration of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over orbitofrontal regions has shown an enhancing effect over decision-making. However, it is unknown whether there is a sex-dependent effect of stimulation in decision-making, a key question considering previous differences between men and women in IGT and the influence of individual differences in tDCS.

Transcranial direct current stimulation treatment in chronic after-stroke dysphagia: A clinical case.

Background: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive neuromodulation technique that has shown positive effects in a variety of motor diseases including dysphagia. However, its clinical application and underlying microstructural effects are still being researched. We tested whether tDCS applied together with swallowing training could benefit a treatment-resistent patient with dysphagia after a stroke.

Behavioral and biological markers for predicting compulsive-like drinking in schedule-induced polydipsia.

Schedule-induced polydipsia (SIP), characterized by the development of persistent and excessive drinking under intermittent food-reinforcement schedules, is an animal model of compulsive behavior that can differentiate two populations: high drinkers (HD) and low drinkers (LD). The aim of the present study was to identify behavioral and biological markers to predict the vulnerability to developing compulsive-like drinking in SIP. Adult male Wistar rats were first trained in a spatial-discrimination serial reversal-learning task and in a reinforcer devaluation task to measure behavioral flexibility and habit formation, respectively.

Differential Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) Depending on Previous Musical Training.

Previous studies have shown that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) facilitates motor performance, but individual differences such as baseline performance seem to influence this effect. Accordingly, musicians offer an inter-individual differences model due to anatomical and functional variances displayed among the motor cortex regions. The aim of the present work was to study if the baseline motor skill predicts whether tDCS can enhance motor learning.

Transcranial direct current stimulation as a motor neurorehabilitation tool: an empirical review.

The present review collects the most relevant empirical evidence available in the literature until date regarding the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on the human motor function. tDCS in a non-invasive neurostimulation technique that delivers a weak current through the brain scalp altering the cortical excitability on the target brain area. The electrical current modulates the resting membrane potential of a variety of neuronal population (as pyramidal and gabaergic neurons); raising or dropping the firing rate up or down, depending on the nature of the electrode and the applied intensity.

Go/No-Go task performance predicts differences in compulsivity but not in impulsivity personality traits.

Lack of inhibitory control is present in impulsive and compulsive personality traits. The Go/No-Go task is one of the most effective means to assess response inhibition measured by the ability to appropriately withhold responding to No-Go stimuli. The aim of this work was to study whether differences in performance of Go/No-Go task predicts differences in personality traits related to inhibitory control.