ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Hum. Neurosci.
Sec. Motor Neuroscience
Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2025.1577899
Comparing the effect of transcranial random noise stimulation and transcranial direct current stimulation over the motor cortex on motor performance in men vs. women: a randomized controlled crossover study
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Physical Therapy, School of Health Sciences, Ariel University, Ariel, Israel
- 2Department of Physical Therapy, Stanley Steyer School of Health Professions, Faculty of Medical & Health Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel, Tel-Aviv, Israel
- 3Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel, Tel-Aviv, Israel
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Non-invasive Brain Stimulation may modulate motor function. One commonly investigated method is transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). In the last few years, a new stimulation technique has been developed and studied, namely transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS). Both stimulation techniques have displayed a certain degree of inconsistency regarding their impact on motor performance. One explanation for this may be related to differences in the sex of the participants. Thirty healthy individuals (15 female) participated in a single-blind counterbalanced crossover trial. All participants received three stimulation conditions: high frequency-tRNS, tDCS, and sham stimulation. Stimulation was applied for 10 minutes at 1.0 mA, with a frequency range of 101-640 Hz for the tRNS. In all stimulation conditions, the anode (for tDCS) was placed over C4 and the cathode over the contralateral orbit. The participants performed a sequential reaching motor task on a digital tablet before, during, and immediately after the stimulation. Movement time, reaction time, and peak velocity did not differ between stimulation conditions. However, within-condition analyses showed improvements in movement time and peak velocity following tRNS only, while reaction time improved in all stimulation conditions. No significant effect of sex was observed. While no clear advantage for a specific stimulation condition was statistically confirmed, these within-condition effects suggest that tRNS may modestly enhance motor performance and warrant further investigation. Additionally, in this experimental setup, sex did not influence the effects of tRNS and tDCS on motor performance.
Keywords: tRNS, tDCS, Sex, Motor performance, Upper limb
Received: 16 Feb 2025; Accepted: 18 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Frenkel-Toledo, Frankel and Friedman. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Silvi Frenkel-Toledo, Department of Physical Therapy, School of Health Sciences, Ariel University, Ariel, Israel
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