Tolerability of transcranial direct current stimulation in childhood-onset schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: In recent years, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been used to study and treat many neuropsychiatric conditions. However, information regarding its tolerability in the pediatric population is lacking. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to investigate the tolerability aspects of tDCS in the childhood-onset schizophrenia (COS) population. METHODS: Twelve participants with COS completed this inpatient study. Participants were assigned to one of two groups: bilateral anodal dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) stimulation (n = 8) or bilateral cathodal superior temporal gyrus (STG) stimulation (n = 5). Patients received either 2 mA of active treatment or sham treatment (with possibility of open active treatment) for 20 minutes, for a total of 10 sessions (2 weeks). RESULTS: tDCS was well tolerated in the COS population with no serious adverse events occurring during the study. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to demonstrate that a 20-minute duration of 2 mA of bilateral anodal and bilateral cathodal DC polarization to the DLPFC and STG was well tolerated in a pediatric population.

Duke Scholars

Author Rachel Ann Miller Medicine, Infectious Diseases