Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Although transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has potential applications in clinical treatment of Parkinson’s disease, the aftereffects of single tDCS are limited in a few hours.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy of repetitive tDCS on rotational behavior of the rat models of Parkinson’s disease.
METHODS: Substantia nigra pars compacta and ventral tegmental area of Sprague Dawley rats were injected 6-hydroxydopamine solution to construct Parkinson’s disease models and then were randomly divided into three groups: anodal tDCS, cathodal tDCS and control groups. The rats in the first two groups received single stimulation lasted for 10 consecutive days (current intensity: 80 μA, stimulation time: 30 min/d) at primary motor cortex, while in control group without any electrical stimulation.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Repetitive tDCS could lead to statistically significant difference of time in decreasing average speed (P < 0.05), and the aftereffects could maintain for 2-3 weeks, however, there was no significant changes in latency and duration (P > 0.05). Stimulation time, stimulation intensity and target location were kept the same between the two stimulation groups, the study showed that in the cathodal tDCS group average rotational speed decreased more significantly than that in the anodal tDCS group. It is indicated that repetitive rDCS can decrease the rotational speed of the rat models of Parkinson’s disease, and the effect of cathodal tDCS is better.