Background: Individuals with Lewy body dementia (LBD) typically exhibit impairments in attentional and executive function. Current pharmacological treatments have limited efficacy, with associated side effects. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) may represent an alternative treatment, as cognitive improvements have been demonstrated in healthy individuals. However, no studies to date have assessed the feasibility of tDCS in an LBD population. The aim of this preliminary study, therefore, was to assess the tolerability of tDCS, as well as its effects upon attentional and visuoperceptual performance, in LBD patients.

Methods: Thirteen participants completed attentional (simple reaction time, choice reaction time, and digit vigilance) and forced-choice visuoperceptual (angle and motion perception) tasks before and after one 20-min session of active tDCS (0.08 mA/cm2). The anodal electrode was applied to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the cathodal electrode was applied to the right deltoid. Attentional (task accuracy and reaction time to correct answers) and visuoperceptual (task accuracy and difficulty) outcome measures were compared using paired t-tests.

Results: All participants tolerated stimulation and did not report any side effects during or immediately after stimulation. Post-stimulation improvements were observed in the choice reaction time (increased percentage of correct answers; p = 0.01) and digit vigilance (reduced mean reaction time to correct answers; p = 0.02) attention tasks. Visuoperceptual task performance did not improve (all p-values > 0.05).

Conclusions: Attentional, but not visuoperceptual, improvements were observed following stimulation in LBD patients. Larger-scale, placebo-controlled trials are needed to confirm whether tDCS is a useful treatment option for attentional deficits in LBD.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4720143PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1041610215001180DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

reaction time
20
correct answers
12
effects transcranial
8
transcranial direct
8
direct current
8
current stimulation
8
lewy body
8
body dementia
8
preliminary study
8
side effects
8

Similar Publications

Purpose: Trastuzumab-pertuzumab (HP) plus taxane is a current standard first-line therapy for recurrent or metastatic human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2)+ breast cancer (BC). We investigated noninferiority of eribulin to a taxane when combined with dual HER2 blockade as first-line systemic treatment for locally advanced/metastatic HER2+ BC.

Methods: In the phase III EMERALD trial (target sample size, 480; ClinicalTrials.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Toward a Free-Response Paradigm of Decision-Making in Spiking Neural Networks.

Neural Comput

January 2025

Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200437, China

Spiking neural networks (SNNs) have attracted significant interest in the development of brain-inspired computing systems due to their energy efficiency and similarities to biological information processing. In contrast to continuous-valued artificial neural networks, which produce results in a single step, SNNs require multiple steps during inference to achieve a desired accuracy level, resulting in a burden in real-time response and energy efficiency. Inspired by the tradeoff between speed and accuracy in human and animal decision-making processes, which exhibit correlations among reaction times, task complexity, and decision confidence, an inquiry emerges regarding how an SNN model can benefit by implementing these attributes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Uncovering Dynamical Equations of Stochastic Decision Models Using Data-Driven SINDy Algorithm.

Neural Comput

January 2025

Intelligent Systems Research Centre, School of Computing, Engineering and Intelligent Systems, Ulster University, BT48 7JL Derry-Londonderry, Northern Ireland, U.K.

Decision formation in perceptual decision making involves sensory evidence accumulation instantiated by the temporal integration of an internal decision variable toward some decision criterion or threshold, as described by sequential sampling theoretical models. The decision variable can be represented in the form of experimentally observable neural activities. Hence, elucidating the appropriate theoretical model becomes crucial to understanding the mechanisms underlying perceptual decision formation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Selecting Initial Conditions for Trajectory-Based Nonadiabatic Simulations.

Acc Chem Res

January 2025

Centre for Computational Chemistry, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TS, United Kingdom.

ConspectusPhotochemical reactions have always been the source of a great deal of mystery. While classified as a type of chemical reaction, no doubts are allowed that the general tenets of ground-state chemistry do not directly apply to photochemical reactions. For a typical chemical reaction, understanding the critical points of the ground-state potential (free) energy surface and embedding them in a thermodynamics framework is often enough to infer reaction yields or characteristic time scales.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Fluorescence immunochromatographic assay for deoxynivalenol using immunomagnetic bead purification.

Food Addit Contam Part A Chem Anal Control Expo Risk Assess

January 2025

College of Animal Science and Technology, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing, China.

Deoxynivalenol (DON) contaminates various complex matrices, necessitating straightforward, effective cleanup and precise detection methods. This study employed immunomagnetic beads for sample purification and utilized a competitive time-resolved fluoro-immuno-chromatographic assay to achieve quantitative detection of DON in corn and its by-products. The limits of detection and quantification were 104 μg/kg and 243 μg/kg, respectively.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!