Rapport final
Modulation of neuronal fear circuits through transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) - De Bundel Dimitri
Currently available treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) do not provide long-term benefits in up to one third of patients. New therapies are therefore needed.
We investigated whether transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a non-invasive neuromodulation method, could improve the efficacy of trauma-based psychotherapy. In this proof of concept study, we used an experimental mouse model based on extinction of learned fear responses through repeated exposure.
We did not observe clear effects of a single tDCS session on extinction of learned fear responses. When mice received tDCS applications twice per day for five consecutive days, we found that extinction of learned fear responses occurred more rapidly and was more robust. This effect was dependent on the strength of the initial fear response. In mice with a weak fear response, we observed no benefit of tDCS, but in mice with a strong fear response, we found a small but significant improvement compared to control mice.
Taken together, our data show that tDCS can improve extinction of learned fear responses in mice. These findings can be translated to humans in future studies. It will be interesting to investigate whether a similar tDCS procedure would give a therapeutic advantage as an add-on to psychotherapy for PTSD patients.