Anodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation over the Right Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Boosts Decision Making and Functional Impulsivity in Female Sports Referees.

Content Provider	Europe PMC
Author	Ghayebzadeh, Shahrouz Zardoshtian, Shirin Amiri, Ehsan Giboin, Louis-Solal Machado, Daniel Gomes da Silva
Editor	Walla, Peter Molero-Chamizo, Andrés Rivera-Urbina, Guadalupe Nathzidy
Copyright Year	2023
Abstract	We investigated the effect of anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (rDLPFC) on the sensitive decision making of female team sports referees. Twenty-four female referees voluntarily participated in this randomized, double-blind, crossover, and sham-controlled study. In three different sessions, participants received either anodal (a-tDCS; anode (+) over F4, cathode (−) over the supraorbital region (SO)), cathodal (c-tDCS; −F4/+SO), or sham tDCS (sh-tDCS) in a randomized and counterbalanced order. a-tDCS and c-tDCS were applied with 2 mA for 20 min. In sh-tDCS, the current was turned off after 30 s. Before and after tDCS, participants performed the computerized Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and Go/No Go impulsivity (IMP) tests. Only a-tDCS improved IGT and IMP scores from pre to post. The delta (Δ = post–pre) analysis showed a significantly higher ΔIGT in a-tDCS compared to c-tDCS (p = 0.02). The ΔIMP was also significantly higher in a-tDCS compared to sh-tDCS (p = 0.01). Finally, the reaction time decreased significantly more in a-tDCS (p = 0.02) and sh-tDCS (p = 0.03) than in c-tDCS. The results suggest that the a-tDCS improved factors related to sensitive decision making in female team sports referees. a-tDCS might be used as an ergogenic aid to enhance decision performance in female team sports referees.
Volume Number	13
PubMed Central reference number	PMC10224116
Issue Number	5
PubMed reference number	37240776
Journal	Life (Basel)
e-ISSN	20751729
DOI	10.3390/life13051131
Language	English
Publisher	MDPI
Publisher Date	2023-05-05
Access Restriction	Open
Rights License	Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). © 2023 by the authors.
Subject Keyword	dorsolateral prefrontal cortex sports referees impulsivity performance sensitive decision making transcranial electrical stimulation
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Paleontology Space and Planetary Science Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics