Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Processing Speed, Life Satisfaction, and Negative Emotional States in Students with Poor Sleep Quality
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Abstract
Background and Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on processing speed, life satisfaction, and emotional states in students with poor sleep quality.
Materials and Methods: A semi-experimental pretest-posttest design with a control group was applied. Twenty-seven students with poor sleep quality were selected via convenience sampling. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the Reaction Time Index (RTI) task from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB), the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) were used to collect data. After the pretest, participants were randomly assigned to the intervention (n = 14) or control group (n = 13). The intervention comprised ten 20-minute tDCS sessions at two mA, with the anode over F3 and the cathode over F4. Data were analyzed via analysis of covariance (ANCOVA).
Results: After controlling for pretest scores, the intervention and control groups demonstrated a significant difference in posttest processing speed (computer-based and non-computer-based tests) and the anxiety subscale of the negative emotional states . No significant differences were found regarding sleep quality or life satisfaction.
Conclusion: tDCS improved processing speed and reduced negative emotional states, but did not significantly improve sleep quality or life satisfaction.
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22. Dell'Osso B, Zanoni S, Ferrucci R, et al. Transcranial direct current stimulation for the outpatient treatment of poor-responder depressed patients. Eur Psychiatry 2012; 27: 513-7.
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24. Clarke PJF, Van Bockstaele B, Marinovic W, et al. The effects of left DLPFC tDCS on emotion regulation, biased attention, and emotional reactivity to negative content. Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci 2020; 20: 1323-35.
25. Thomas J, Overeem S, Dresler M, et al. Shift-work-related sleep disruption and the risk of decline in cognitive function: The CRUISE Study. J Sleep Res 2021; 30: e13068.
26. Feiz P, Emamipour S, Hassani-Abharian P, et al. Comparing cup stacking and transcranial direct current stimulation on working memory and processing speed. Iran J learn Mem 2020; 3: 61-8.
27. Diener E, Oishi S, Lucas RE. Personality, culture, and subjective well-being: emotional and cognitive evaluations of life. Annu Rev Psychol 2003; 54: 403-25.
28. Lovibond PF, Lovibond SH. The structure of negative emotional states: comparison of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) with the Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories. Behav Res Ther 1995; 33: 335-43.
29. Frase L, Selhausen P, Krone L, et al. Differential effects of bifrontal tDCS on arousal and sleep duration in insomnia patients and healthy controls. Brain Stimul 2019; 12: 674-83.
30. Hadoush H, Al-Sharman A, Khalil H, et al. Sleep Quality, Depression, and Quality of Life After Bilateral Anodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Patients with Parkinson's Disease. Med Sci Monit Basic Res 2018; 24: 198-205.
31. Charest J, Marois A, Bastie CH. Impact of Transcranial Direct Stimulation Current on Sleep Depth among Student-Athletes. Int J Sports Sci 2020; 10: 15-22.
32. Grigorescu C, Chalah MA, Lefaucheur JP, et al. Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Information Processing Speed, Working Memory, Attention, and Social Cognition in Multiple Sclerosis. Front Neurol 2020; 11: 545377.
33. Shirvani S, Davoudi M, Shirvani M, et al. Comparison of the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation and mindfulness-based stress reduction on mental fatigue, quality of life and aggression in mild traumatic brain injury patients: a randomized clinical trial. Ann Gen Psychiatry 2021; 20: 33.
34. Brunoni AR, Vanderhasselt MA, Boggio PS, et al. Polarity- and valence-dependent effects of prefrontal transcranial direct current stimulation on heart rate variability and salivary cortisol. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2013; 38: 58-66.
35. Baeken C, Dedoncker J, Remue J, et al. One MRI-compatible tDCS session attenuates ventromedial cortical perfusion when exposed to verbal criticism: The role of perceived criticism. Hum Brain Mapp 2018; 39: 4462-70.
36. Zhou Q, Yu C, Yu H, et al. The effects of repeated transcranial direct current stimulation on sleep quality and depression symptoms in patients with major de-pression and insomnia. Sleep Med 2020; 70: 17-26.
37. Peña-Gómez C, Vidal-Piñeiro D, Clemente IC, et al. Down-regulation of negative emotional processing by transcranial direct current stimulation: effects of personality characteristics. PLoS One 2011; 6: e22812.
38. Carnevali L, Pattini E, Sgoifo A, et al. Effects of prefrontal transcranial direct current stimulation on autonomic and neuroendocrine responses to psychosocial stress in healthy humans. Stress 2020; 23: 26-36.
2. Rosipal R, Lewandowski A, Dorffner G. In search of objective components for sleep quality indexing in normal sleep. Biol Psychol 2013; 94: 210-20.
3. Özkan SA, Rathfisch G. The effect of relaxation exercises on sleep quality in pregnant women in the third trimester: A randomized controlled trial. Complement Ther Clin Pract 2018; 32: 79-84.
4. Wolfson AR. Adolescents and emerging adults' sleep patterns: new developments. J Adolesc Health 2010; 46: 97-9.
5. Gross CR, Kreitzer MJ, Reilly-Spong M, et al. Mindfulness-based stress reduction versus pharmacotherapy for chronic primary insomnia: a randomized controlled clinical trial. Explore (NY) 2011; 7: 76-87.
6. Lowry M, Dean K, Manders K. The link between sleep quantity and academic performance for the college student. Sentience 2010; 3: 16-9.
7. Patel VP, Zambrana A, Walker LA, et al. Distractibility in multiple sclerosis: The role of depression. Mult Scler J Exp Transl Clin 2016; 2: 2055217316653150.
8. Drew MA, Starkey NJ, Isler RB. Examining the link between information processing speed and executive functioning in multiple sclerosis. Arch Clin Neuropsy-chol 2009; 24: 47-58.
9. Weiss LG, Saklofske DH, Holdnack JA, et al. WISC-V assessment and interpretation: Scientist-practitioner perspectives. San Diego, CA: Elsevier Science; 2016.
10. Cody SL, Fazeli PL, Crowe M, et al. Effects of speed of processing training and transcranial direct current stimulation on global sleep quality and speed of processing in older adults with and without HIV: A pilot study. Appl Neuropsychol Adult 2020; 27: 267-78.
11. Motevaliyan SM, Dokoushkani F, Jeloudar SY. Study of life satisfaction among students of University of Mazandaran and its relationship with personality dimensions. Shenakht J Psychol Psychiatry 2019; 6: 23-34.
12. Groeger JA, Zijlstra FR, Dijk DJ. Sleep quantity, sleep difficulties and their perceived consequences in a representative sample of some 2000 British adults. J Sleep Res 2004; 13: 359-71.
13. Steptoe A, O'Donnell K, Marmot M, et al. Positive affect, psychological well-being, and good sleep. J Psychosom Res 2008; 64: 409-15.
14. Pilcher JJ, Ott ES. The relationships between sleep and measures of health and well-being in college students: a repeated measures approach. Behav Med 1998; 23: 170-8.
15. Watson D, Tellegen A. Toward a consensual structure of mood. Psychol Bull 1985; 98: 219-35.
16. Zhang A, Yan J, Yang G, et al. Life satisfaction and its associated factors among money boys in China. Public Health 2018; 154: 110-7.
17. Pagan R. Sleep duration, life satisfaction and disability. Disabil Health J 2017; 10: 334-43.
18. Ayanampudi V, Kumar V, Krishnan A, et al. Personalized transcranial alternating current stimulation improves sleep quality: Initial findings. Front Hum Neurosci 2022; 16: 1066453.
19. Malkani RG, Zee PC. Brain Stimulation for Improving Sleep and Memory. Sleep Med Clin 2022; 17: 505-21.
20. Zhu ML, Ouyang Q, Shen HG, et al. Field study on the objective evaluation of sleep quality and sleeping thermal environment in summer. Energy Build 2016; 133: 843-52.
21. Melo DLM, Carvalho LBC, Prado LBF, et al. Bio-feedback Therapies for Chronic Insomnia: A Systematic Review. Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback 2019; 44: 259-69.
22. Dell'Osso B, Zanoni S, Ferrucci R, et al. Transcranial direct current stimulation for the outpatient treatment of poor-responder depressed patients. Eur Psychiatry 2012; 27: 513-7.
23. Vicario CM, Salehinejad MA, Felmingham K, et al. A systematic review on the therapeutic effectiveness of non-invasive brain stimulation for the treatment of anxiety disorders. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2019; 96: 219-31.
24. Clarke PJF, Van Bockstaele B, Marinovic W, et al. The effects of left DLPFC tDCS on emotion regulation, biased attention, and emotional reactivity to negative content. Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci 2020; 20: 1323-35.
25. Thomas J, Overeem S, Dresler M, et al. Shift-work-related sleep disruption and the risk of decline in cognitive function: The CRUISE Study. J Sleep Res 2021; 30: e13068.
26. Feiz P, Emamipour S, Hassani-Abharian P, et al. Comparing cup stacking and transcranial direct current stimulation on working memory and processing speed. Iran J learn Mem 2020; 3: 61-8.
27. Diener E, Oishi S, Lucas RE. Personality, culture, and subjective well-being: emotional and cognitive evaluations of life. Annu Rev Psychol 2003; 54: 403-25.
28. Lovibond PF, Lovibond SH. The structure of negative emotional states: comparison of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) with the Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories. Behav Res Ther 1995; 33: 335-43.
29. Frase L, Selhausen P, Krone L, et al. Differential effects of bifrontal tDCS on arousal and sleep duration in insomnia patients and healthy controls. Brain Stimul 2019; 12: 674-83.
30. Hadoush H, Al-Sharman A, Khalil H, et al. Sleep Quality, Depression, and Quality of Life After Bilateral Anodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Patients with Parkinson's Disease. Med Sci Monit Basic Res 2018; 24: 198-205.
31. Charest J, Marois A, Bastie CH. Impact of Transcranial Direct Stimulation Current on Sleep Depth among Student-Athletes. Int J Sports Sci 2020; 10: 15-22.
32. Grigorescu C, Chalah MA, Lefaucheur JP, et al. Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Information Processing Speed, Working Memory, Attention, and Social Cognition in Multiple Sclerosis. Front Neurol 2020; 11: 545377.
33. Shirvani S, Davoudi M, Shirvani M, et al. Comparison of the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation and mindfulness-based stress reduction on mental fatigue, quality of life and aggression in mild traumatic brain injury patients: a randomized clinical trial. Ann Gen Psychiatry 2021; 20: 33.
34. Brunoni AR, Vanderhasselt MA, Boggio PS, et al. Polarity- and valence-dependent effects of prefrontal transcranial direct current stimulation on heart rate variability and salivary cortisol. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2013; 38: 58-66.
35. Baeken C, Dedoncker J, Remue J, et al. One MRI-compatible tDCS session attenuates ventromedial cortical perfusion when exposed to verbal criticism: The role of perceived criticism. Hum Brain Mapp 2018; 39: 4462-70.
36. Zhou Q, Yu C, Yu H, et al. The effects of repeated transcranial direct current stimulation on sleep quality and depression symptoms in patients with major de-pression and insomnia. Sleep Med 2020; 70: 17-26.
37. Peña-Gómez C, Vidal-Piñeiro D, Clemente IC, et al. Down-regulation of negative emotional processing by transcranial direct current stimulation: effects of personality characteristics. PLoS One 2011; 6: e22812.
38. Carnevali L, Pattini E, Sgoifo A, et al. Effects of prefrontal transcranial direct current stimulation on autonomic and neuroendocrine responses to psychosocial stress in healthy humans. Stress 2020; 23: 26-36.
| Files | ||
| Issue | Vol 8 No 3-4 (2023): Summer-Autumn | |
| Section | Original Article(s) | |
| Keywords | ||
| Transcranial direct current stimulation; Sleep; Processing speed; Life satisfaction; Psychological distress | ||
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. |
How to Cite
1.
Dehghan HR, Mousavi Nasab SMH, Tajrobehkar M. Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Processing Speed, Life Satisfaction, and Negative Emotional States in Students with Poor Sleep Quality. J Sleep Sci. 2026;8(3-4):53-59.
