Impact of transcranial direct current stimulation on sustained attention in breast cancer survivors: evidence for feasibility, tolerability, and initial efficacy
Author
Gaynor, Alexandra M.
Alici, Yesne
Ryan, Elizabeth
McNeal, Katrazyna
Ahles, Tim A.
Root, James C.
Publication date
2020ISSN
1935-861X
Abstract
Background: A significant subset of breast cancer survivors experience cognitive difficulties in attention and memory, which persist for years following treatment. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been shown to be effective in improving working memory, attention, processing speed, and other cognitive functions in both healthy and clinical populations. To date, no studies have examined tDCS for rehabilitation of cancer-related cognitive dysfunction. Objective/hypothesis: We aimed to provide preliminary evidence for feasibility, tolerability, acceptability, and efficacy of tDCS in improving performance on a measure of sustained attention. Methods: In a within-subjects design, 16 breast cancer survivors underwent 2 consecutive days of active tDCS over the prefrontal cortex, and 2 days of sham tDCS, counterbalanced for order of stimulation condition, while performing a continuous performance test. Results: Stimulation was feasible and tolerable, with 89% of participants completing all sessions, and none reporting more than mild to moderate discomfort. Analyses of efficacy showed that during active stimulation, participants had significantly lower standard errors of reaction times overall, indicating better sustained attention ability, as compared to sham stimulation (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the effect of stimulation on standard errors of reaction times differed by inter-stimulus interval (ISI): for 1 and 2 s ISIs, there was no significant difference in performance between sham and active tDCS conditions, but for 4 s ISIs, stimulation improved variability in response times relative to sham (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Results suggest that tDCS is feasible, tolerable, and may be an effective intervention to improve sustained attention difficulties in survivors with cancer-related cognitive dysfunction.
Document Type
Article
Document version
Accepted version
Language
English
Subject (CDU)
61 - Medical sciences
Keywords
Mama -- Càncer
Cognició
Neuropsicologia
Quimioteràpia
Atenció
Memòria
Mamas -- Cáncer
Procesos cognitivos
Neuropsicología
Quimioterapia
Atención
Memoria
Breast -- Cancer
Cognition
Neuropsychology
Chemotherapy
Attention
Memory
Pages
9
Publisher
Elsevier
Collection
13;4
Is part of
Brain Stimulation
Citation
Gaynor, Alexandra M.; Pergolizzi, Denise; Alici, Yesne [et al.]. Impact of transcranial direct current stimulation on sustained attention in breast cancer survivors: evidence for feasibility, tolerability, and initial efficacy. Brain Stimulation, 2020, 13(4), p. 1108-1116. Disponible en: <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1935861X20300929>. Fecha de acceso: 19 jun. 2020. DOI: 10.1016/j.brs.2020.04.013
This item appears in the following Collection(s)
- Ciències de la Salut [725]
Rights
Under a Creative Commons license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/