Open AccessNeural Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Schizophrenia: A Case Study using Functional Near-infrared Spectroscopy
Author(s) -
S Trevor Taylor,
Harleen Chhabra,
Vanteemar S. Sreeraj,
Venkataram Shivakumar,
Sunil V. Kalmady,
Ganesan Venkatasubramanian
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
indian journal of psychological medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.417
H-Index - 24
eISSN - 0975-1564
pISSN - 0253-7176
DOI - 10.4103/ijpsym.ijpsym_238_17
Subject(s) - transcranial direct current stimulation , neuroplasticity , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , functional near infrared spectroscopy , psychology , neuroscience , cognition , audiology , stimulation , medicine , psychiatry , prefrontal cortex
Schizophrenia is a severe neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by delusions, hallucinations, behavioral symptoms, and cognitive deficits. Roughly, 70%-80% of schizophrenia patients experience auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs), with 25%-30% demonstrating resistance to conventional antipsychotic medications. Studies suggest a promising role for add-on transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in the treatment of medication-refractory AVHs. The mechanisms through which tDCS could be therapeutic in such cases are unclear, but possibly involve neuroplastic effects. In recent years, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) has been used successfully to study tDCS-induced neuroplastic changes. In a double-blind, sham-controlled design, we applied fNIRS to measure task-dependent cerebral blood flow (CBF) changes as a surrogate outcome of single session tDCS-induced effects on neuroplasticity in a schizophrenia patient with persistent auditory hallucinations. The observations are discussed in this case report.