Effects of transcranial direct and pulsed current stimulation of the DLPFC on anaerobic performance in young, healthy female university basketball players

This study compared the acute effects of anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and transcranial pulsed current stimulation (tPCS) over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) on repeated anaerobic performance. Fifteen young, healthy female university basketball players participated in this randomized, double-blind, crossover study. Each athlete completed three sessions (tDCS, tPCS, sham), separated by one week. After 20 min of stimulation, participants performed six 10-second Wingate anaerobic tests interspersed with 2-minute active recoveries. Peak power, mean power, fatigue index, quadriceps electromyographic activity, heart rate, rating of perceived exertion, affective valence, felt arousal, and pain intensity were recorded. Data were analyzed using repeated-measures analysis of variance and Friedman tests. Neither tDCS nor tPCS produced significant improvements in peak power or mean power, fatigue index, or psychophysiological responses compared with sham stimulation. However, when averaged across all Wingate bouts, vastus medialis electromyographic amplitude was significantly higher in the tPCS condition than in the sham condition. No significant condition or condition × time effects were found for the other quadriceps muscles or heart rate responses. The findings suggest that under the present stimulation parameters and repeated Wingate protocol, neither tDCS nor tPCS applied over the DLPFC produced statistically detectable improvements in repeated anaerobic performance in young, healthy female university basketball players, although tPCS was associated with greater vastus medialis activation than sham stimulation when averaged across bouts.