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. 2022 Feb 17:16:758891.
doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.758891. eCollection 2022.

Halo Sport Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Improved Muscular Endurance Performance and Neuromuscular Efficiency During an Isometric Submaximal Fatiguing Elbow Flexion Task

Lejun Wang  1 , Ce Wang  1 , Hua Yang  1 , Qineng Shao  1 , Wenxin Niu  2 , Ye Yang  3 , Fanhui Zheng  4
Affiliations

Halo Sport Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Improved Muscular Endurance Performance and Neuromuscular Efficiency During an Isometric Submaximal Fatiguing Elbow Flexion Task

Lejun Wang et al. Front Hum Neurosci. .

Abstract

The present study examined the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) using Halo Sport on the time to exhaustion (TTE) in relation with muscle activities and corticomuscular coupling of agonist and antagonist muscles during a sustained isometric fatiguing contraction performed with the elbow flexors. Twenty healthy male college students were randomly assigned to tDCS group and control group. The two group participants performed two experimental sessions which consisted of pre-fatigue isometric maximal voluntary contraction (MVC), sustained submaximal voluntary contractions (30% maximal torque) performed to exhaustion, and post-fatigue MVC with the right elbow flexor muscles. Sham stimulation (90 s) and tDCS (20 min) were applied for control and tDCS group participants 20 min prior to the second session test, respectively. MVC strength in pre- and post-fatigue test, TTE, electroencephalogram (EEG), and electromyography (EMG) of biceps brachii (BB) and triceps brachii (TB) were recorded during the tests. It was found that tDCS using the Halo Sport device significantly increased TTE and thus improved muscular endurance performance. The improvement may be partly related to the improvement of neuromuscular efficiency as reflected by decrease of antagonistic muscle coactivation activities, which may be related to cortical originated central processing mechanism of neuromuscular activities.

Keywords: EEG; EMG; endurance performance; halo sport; tDCS.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Overall view of the experimental protocol.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Electromyography (EMG) median frequencies (mean ± SD) of biceps brachii (BB) muscle for transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS, A) and control (B) group subjects plotted as a percentage of contraction time during the sustained fatiguing elbow flexion contraction in baseline and post-stimulation test.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Contraction duration time (mean ± SD) of the sustained fatiguing elbow flexion contraction for transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and control group subjects in baseline and post-stimulation test. *demonstrated a significant difference of observed index between the baseline and post-stimulation test.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Pre- and post-fatigue maximal torque (mean ± SD) of elbow flexion tested during baseline and post-stimulation for transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) group and control group subjects. *demonstrated a significant difference of observed index between the baseline and post-stimulation test.
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Changes of biceps brachii (BB) muscle activation levels during the sustained fatiguing elbow flexion contraction (A,B) and comparisons of average electromyography (EMG) root mean square (RMS) [% maximum voluntary contraction (MVC)] between the 1st and 2nd half of contraction for baseline and post-stimulation test in transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) (C) and control (D) group subjects. Data have been expressed as mean ± SD values. *demonstrated a significant difference of observed index between the baseline and post-stimulation test or between the 1st and 2nd half of contraction.
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 6
Changes of antagonist muscle coactivation level of triceps brachii (TB) during the sustained fatiguing elbow flexion contraction (A,B) and comparisons of average electromyography (EMG) root mean square (RMS) [% maximum voluntary contraction (MVC)] between the 1st and 2nd half of contraction for baseline and post-stimulation test in transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) (C) and control (D) group subjects. Data have been expressed as mean ± SD values. *demonstrated a significant difference of observed index between the baseline and post-stimulation test or between the 1st and 2nd half of contraction.
FIGURE 7
FIGURE 7
Comparisons of biceps brachii (BB) electromyography (EMG)–electroencephalogram (EEG) phase synchronization index (PSI) (mean ± SD) in alpha, beta, and gamma frequency bands between the 1st and 2nd half of contraction for baseline and post-stimulation test in tDCS (A,C,E) and control (B,D,F) group subjects. *demonstrated a significant difference of observed index between the baseline and post-stimulation test or between the 1st and 2nd half of contraction.
FIGURE 8
FIGURE 8
Comparisons of triceps brachii (TB) electromyography (EMG)–electroencephalogram (EEG) phase synchronization index (PSI) (mean ± SD) in alpha, beta, and gamma frequency bands between the 1st and 2nd half of contraction for baseline and post-stimulation test in tDCS (A,C,E) and control (B,D,F) group subjects. *demonstrated a significant difference of observed index between the baseline and post-stimulation test or between the 1st and 2nd half of contraction.
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