The impact of lifestyle factors on the intensity of adverse effects in single and repeated session protocols of transcranial electrical stimulation : an exploratory pilot study

Transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) has shown promise in the treatment of conditions such as depression and chronic pain with mild-to-moderate adverse effects (AEs). Few previous studies have attempted to identify factors predicting tES-induced AEs. In particular, AEs resulting from repeated sessions of tES remain understudied. We conducted an exploratory retrospective analysis of two independent randomized controlled studies to investigate whether lifestyle factors (i.e. chronic alcohol use, smoking, exercise, and quality and length of sleep) modify the severity and frequency of tES-induced AEs, and evaluated the progression of AEs over repeated sessions. We utilized two double-blinded samples: 1) a male sample (n=82) randomized to receive transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) or sham for 5 days, and 2) a mixed-sex sample (n=60) who received both transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS) and sham in a crossover setting. The severity of AEs was recorded on a scale of 0-100. The data was analysed using negative binomial models. In addition, we performed power calculations and, to guide future research, evaluated the numbers of individuals needed to detect non-significant observations as significant. By day 5, the tDCS group experienced more sensations under the electrodes than the sham group. Alcohol use, smoking, exercise, or quality or duration of sleep did not appear to be associated with the intensity of the AEs. The subsequent power analyses indicated that substantially larger samples would be needed to detect the observed associations as significant. Repetitive sessions do not appear to introduce additional AE burden to individuals receiving either tDCS or tRNS, at least with protocols lasting up to 5 days. Alcohol use, smoking, exercise, or quality or duration of sleep appear to only have an effect of negligible size, if any, on AEs induced by tDCS or tRNS, and studies with sample sizes ranging from roughly 100 individuals to hundreds of thousands of individuals would be required to detect such effects as significant

The impact of lifestyle factors on the intensity of adverse effects in single and repeated session protocols of transcranial electrical stimulation: an exploratory pilot study

Transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) has shown promise in the treatment of conditions such as depression and chronic pain with mild-to-moderate adverse effects (AEs). Few previous studies have attempted to identify factors predicting tES-induced AEs. In particular, AEs resulting from repeated sessions of tES remain understudied. We conducted an exploratory retrospective analysis of two independent randomized controlled studies to investigate whether lifestyle factors (i.e. chronic alcohol use, smoking, exercise, and quality and length of sleep) modify the severity and frequency of tES-induced AEs, and evaluated the progression of AEs over repeated sessions. We utilized two double-blinded samples: 1) a male sample (n=82) randomized to receive transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) or sham for 5 days, and 2) a mixed-sex sample (n=60) who received both transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS) and sham in a crossover setting. The severity of AEs was recorded on a scale of 0-100. The data was analysed using negative binomial models. In addition, we performed power calculations and, to guide future research, evaluated the numbers of individuals needed to detect non-significant observations as significant. By day 5, the tDCS group experienced more sensations under the electrodes than the sham group. Alcohol use, smoking, exercise, or quality or duration of sleep did not appear to be associated with the intensity of the AEs. The subsequent power analyses indicated that substantially larger samples would be needed to detect the observed associations as significant. Repetitive sessions do not appear to introduce additional AE burden to individuals receiving either tDCS or tRNS, at least with protocols lasting up to 5 days. Alcohol use, smoking, exercise, or quality or duration of sleep appear to only have an effect of negligible size, if any, on AEs induced by tDCS or tRNS, and studies with sample sizes ranging from roughly 100 individuals to hundreds of thousands of individuals would be required to detect such effects as significant

Parhaat korkean tason prototyyppityökalut tiimityöskentelyyn käyttöliittymä- ja käyttäjäkokemussuunnittelussa

Tämän tutkimustyyppisen opinnäytetyön tavoitteena oli selvittää vastaus tutkimuskysymykseen, mitkä korkean tason prototyyppityökalut soveltuvat parhaiten tiimityöskentelyyn käyttöliittymä- ja käyttäjäkokemussuunnittelussa. Tämän lisäksi oli tavoitteena selvittä vastaukset alikysymyksiin, kuinka yleistä tiimityöskentely on prototyyppien tekemisessä käyttöliittymä- ja käyttäjäkokemus-suunnittelussa, sekä millaisia ominaisuuksia prototyyppityökaluissa pidetään tärkeänä tiimityös-kentelyyn liittyen. Työ toteutettiin kevään 2022 aikana. Työssä käsitellään ensin hieman aiheeseen liittyvää historiaa, jonka jälkeen perehdytään käyttö-liittymä- ja käyttäjäkokemussuunnitteluun, sekä niihin liittyviin asioihin, kuten responsiivisuuteen ja saavutettavuuteen. Seuraavaksi digitaalisten palveluiden prototyyppien eri tasot käydään läpi ja tutustutaan tiimityöskentelyn hyötyihin ja prototyyppien tekemisen valmisteluun. Tutkimus toteutettiin sähköisenä kyselytutkimuksena, jonka kohderyhmänä olivat käyttöliittymä- ja käyttäjäkokemussuunnittelun ammattilaiset. Kyselyä lähetettiin 11.3.2022 kohderyhmän edus-tajille internetistä löydettyjä yhteystietoja ja omia kontakteja hyödyntäen. Kyselyssä hyödynnet-tiin pääasiassa määrällisiä menetelmiä, mutta myös laadullisia menetelmiä käytettiin muutaman avoimen kysymyksen muodossa. Tutkimustuloksista kävi ilmi, että parhaiten tiimityöskentelyyn soveltuvat korkean tason proto-tyyppityökalut ovat Adobe XD, Figma, InVision ja Sketch. Näistä neljästä selvästi vastaajien mielestä paras työkalu tiimityöskentelyn kannalta oli Figma. Vastausten pohjalta tiimityöskente-lyn todettiin olevan olennainen osa prototyyppien tekemistä, sillä kukaan vastaajista ei kertonut tekevänsä prototyyppejä pelkästään yksin. Prototyyppityökalujen tiimityöskentelyä tukevista ominaisuuksista tärkeimpinä pidettiin samanaikaisen muokkaamisen mahdollisuutta ja sujuvaa kommentointia

Anodal tDCS Over the Left Prefrontal Cortex Does Not Cause Clinically Significant Changes in Circulating Metabolites

Background Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a putative treatment for depression, has been proposed to affect peripheral metabolism. Metabolic products from brain tissue may also cross the blood-brain barrier, reflecting the conditions in the brain. However, there are no previous data regarding the effect of tDCS on circulating metabolites. Objective To determine whether five daily sessions of tDCS modulate peripheral metabolites in healthy adult men. Methods This double-blind, randomized controlled trial involved 79 healthy males (aged 20-40 years) divided into two groups, one receiving tDCS (2 mA) and the other sham stimulated. The anode was placed over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the cathode over the corresponding contralateral area. Venous blood samples were obtained before and after the first stimulation session, and after the fifth stimulation session. Serum levels of 102 metabolites were determined by mass spectrometry. The results were analysed with generalised estimating equations corrected for the family-wise error rate. In addition, we performed power calculations estimating sample sizes necessary for future research. Results TDCS-related variation in serum metabolite levels was extremely small and statistically non-significant. Power calculations indicated that for the observed variation to be deemed significant, samples sizes of up to 11,000 subjects per group would be required, depending on the metabolite of interest. Conclusion Our study found that five sessions of tDCS induced no major effects on peripheral metabolites among healthy men. These observations support the view of tDCS as a safe treatment that does not induce significant changes in the measured peripheral metabolites in healthy male subjects.Peer reviewe