Comparison between conventional and HD-tDCS of the right inferior frontal gyrus in children and adolescents with ADHD

Carolin Breitling; Tino Zaehle; Moritz Dannhauer; Jana Tegelbeckers; Hans-Henning Flechtner; Kerstin Krauel

doi:10.1016/j.clinph.2019.12.412

Comparison between conventional and HD-tDCS of the right inferior frontal gyrus in children and adolescents with ADHD

Clin Neurophysiol. 2020 May;131(5):1146-1154. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2019.12.412. Epub 2020 Jan 24.

Authors

Carolin Breitling¹, Tino Zaehle², Moritz Dannhauer³, Jana Tegelbeckers⁴, Hans-Henning Flechtner⁵, Kerstin Krauel⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany. Electronic address: carolin.breitling@med.ovgu.de.
² Department of Neurology, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany; Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany. Electronic address: tino.zaehle@med.ovgu.de.
³ Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute, Center for Integrated Biomedical Computing, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA. Electronic address: moritz@sci.utah.edu.
⁴ Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany; Department of Neurology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA. Electronic address: jana.tegelbeckers@northwestern.edu.
⁵ Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany. Electronic address: hans-henning.flechtner@med.ovgu.de.
⁶ Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany; Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany. Electronic address: kerstin.krauel@med.ovgu.de.

Abstract

Objective: To investigate whether the effects of HD-tDCS and conventional tDCS of the right IFG are superior to the effects of sham stimulation for the improvement of working memory performance in ADHD.

Methods: 15 ADHD patients between 10 and 16 years underwent three tDCS sessions in which conventional, HD and sham tDCS of the right IFG were applied. In all sessions a 2-back working memory task was solved and EEG was recorded. Baseline data were assessed from 15 age matched healthy controls.

Results: In ADHD patients, increased positive values of P300 and N200 mean amplitudes were found after conventional and HD-tDCS. Thus, both components were more in resemblance to ERPs in healthy controls. Behavioral performance was not generally influenced by tDCS but effects of HD-tDCS depended on individual hyperactive/impulsive symptom load. The rate of responders for HD-tDCS was equivalent to the responder rate for conventional tDCS.

Conclusions: ERP data indicate that HD-tDCS is equally suitable as conventional tDCS for the recruitment of the right IFG in the context of working memory processing.

Significance: HD-tDCS of the right IFG is a promising approach for neuromodulation in ADHD but further research is necessary to develop adaptations that produce reliable behavioral benefits.

Keywords: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); High definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS); Right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG); Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS); Working memory; n-back task.

Publication types

Comparative Study
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / diagnosis
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / physiopathology*
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / therapy*
Child
Electroencephalography / methods
Event-Related Potentials, P300 / physiology*
Evoked Potentials / physiology*
Female
Humans
Male
Memory, Short-Term / physiology
Prefrontal Cortex / physiopathology*
Psychomotor Performance / physiology
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation / methods*

Grants and funding

P41 GM103545/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/United States