Abstract

Purpose: The aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on psychological indicators of stress, anxiety, and depression.

Methods: This research was semi-experimental with a pre-test-post-test design with a control group. 20 male wheelchair basketball players were placed in two groups of 10 experimental and control randomly. We investigated the effect of four sessions of anodal tDCS stimulation with 2 mA for 20 minutes per session and with 3.5 x 3.5 cm electrodes on the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the reference electrode was on the FP2 area. We evaluated the scores obtained from three psychological components (negative emotional states) using the DASS21 self-report questionnaire in two stages, pre-test and post-test. tDCS intervention was performed in resting conditions and in a relaxed state without motor or cognitive tasks. The data was analyzed by multivariate analysis of variance test. Using analysis of covariance, the results showed that the significant value obtained for all tests (0.001) was less than the critical level (α=0.05).

Results: There is a significant difference between the scores of stress, anxiety and depression indices of the participants in the experimental group before and after the intervention, but this difference was not significant in the control group.

Conclusion: The results showed that transcranial stimulation of the brain has an effect on some negative psychological components in athletes, which is probably caused by the modulation and facilitation of brain wave activity and membrane potentials in neurons caused by this method.