A recent comprehensive study has evaluated the tolerability and safety of transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) techniques, particularly transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS), among children and adolescents with neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders. Conducted across 1,032 sessions involving 92 young participants aged between 8 and 17 years, the research sheds light on the potential of these non-invasive brain stimulation methods.
The research, authored by Battisti, Lazzaro, Ursumando, and colleagues, reflects growing interest in tES as methods to modulate brain activity and treat various conditions, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and anorexia nervosa. With 72% of sessions yielding no reported adverse events, the findings indicate commendable safety levels for tES applications.
Notably, the most common adverse event reported was itching, occurring during 169 of the sessions, followed by headache and miscellaneous symptoms at lower rates. The frequency of adverse events was higher during active sessions, with 28.6% of participants reporting at least one mild adverse event, compared to 17.86% during sham sessions. When tDCS was compared with tRNS, tRNS displayed higher rates of adverse events, evidenced by 43% reporting adverse effects, compared to 16.71% for tDCS.
The team's analysis involved structured trials across different methodologies, involving randomized double-blind sham-controlled trials, to extract reliable data on the efficacy of the methods targeted. This study is particularly significant as it adds to the limited data on tES techniques involving pediatric populations—over 92% of tES studies have primarily focused on adults. The ethical dimensions of the study were reinforced through approval from the Ethics Committee of Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, where the trials took place.
The results have significant implications for future research directions and clinical practices, especially concerning tailoring treatments to younger populations who may exhibit different responses compared to adults. The study promotes the necessity of refining blinding techniques to eliminate biases potentially affecting participant responses.
Demographic and emotional-behavioral factors were found to have minimal impact on the incidence of adverse events, signifying the robustness of the findings across varied pediatric backgrounds. This observation invites future exploration of correlational studies among children's unique developmental experiences, emotional states, and their responses to these brain stimulation techniques.
There is still much to have clarified about the long-term effects of tES on developing brains, but according to the outcomes from this research, indications of serious adverse events were absent, paving the way for potential greater acceptance and utility of tES as part of therapeutic regimens for children with specific neuropsychiatric or neurodevelopmental conditions.
With strong support for the tolerability and safety of tES, the study recommends continued investigation and refinement of protocols to maximize the efficacy of these treatments. Future studies should incorporate more objective measures alongside self-reported experiences to build upon these promising findings.