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Updated: Sep 22, 2025
Simultaneous EEG Monitoring During Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation
Published on: June 17, 2013
Transcranial direct current stimulation does not improve clinical and neurophysiological outcomes in panic disorder:
Serkan Aksu1,2, Ahmet Zihni Soyata3, Zhala Mursalova4
1Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, Muğla, Turkey.
Aim:
Emerging evidence suggests that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has anxiolytic effects and may enhance emotional processing of threat and reduce threat-related attentional bias. Panic disorder (PD) is considered to be a fear network disorder along with prefrontal activity alterations. We aim to assess the effect of tDCS on clinical and physiological parameters in PD for the first time.
Methods:
In this triple-blind randomized sham-controlled pilot study, 30 individuals with PD were allocated into active and sham groups to receive 10 sessions of tDCS targeting the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex bilaterally at 2 mA for 20-min duration over 2 weeks. The clinical severity, threat-related attentional bias, interoceptive accuracy, and emotional recognition were assessed before, immediately after, and 1 month after tDCS.
Results:
Active tDCS, in comparison to sham, did not elicit more favorable clinical and neuropsychological/physiological outcomes in PD.
Conclusion:
The present study provides the first clinical and neurobehavioral results of prefrontal tDCS in PD and indicates that prefrontal tDCS was not superior to sham in PD.
