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Tripod transcranial alternating current stimulation at 5-Hz to alleviate anxiety symptoms: A preliminary report
Tien-Wen Lee1, Chiang-Shan R Li2, Gerald Tramontano1
1The NeuroCognitive Institute (NCI) Clinical Research Foundation, NJ 07856, USA.
Introduction:
One of the most common applications of transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) at low current intensity is to induce a relaxed state or reduce anxiety. With technical advancement, different waveforms, montages, and parameters can be incorporated into the treatment regimen. We developed a novel protocol to treat individuals with anxiety disorders by transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS).
Methods:
A total of 27 individuals with anxiety disorders underwent tACS treatment for 12 sessions, with each session lasting 25 min. tACS at 5 Hz was applied to F4 (1.0 mA), P4 (1.0 mA), and T8 (2.0 mA) EEG lead positions (tripod), with sinewave oscillation between T8 and F4/P4. We evaluated the primary and secondary outcomes using the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and neuropsychological assessments.
Results:
Of the 27 patients, 19 (70.4 %) experienced a reduction in symptom severity >50 %, with an average reduction of BAI 58.5 %. All reported side effects were mild, with itching or tingling being the most common complaint. No significant differences were noted in attention, linguistic working memory, visuospatial working memory, or long-term memory in neuropsychological assessments.
Conclusion:
The results suggest the potential of this novel tripod tACS design as a rapid anxiety alleviator and the importance of a clinical trial to verify its efficacy.
