Non-invasive brain stimulation over the orbital prefrontal cortex maintains endurance performance in mentally fatigued swimmers

Using anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (a-tDCS) on frontal brain areas might be a promising strategy to mitigates mental fatigue and maintain endurance performance swimmers.The objective was to analyze the effect of a-tDCS over the orbital prefrontal cortex (oPFC) on endurance performance of mentally fatigued female amateur swimmer.Nineteen female amateur swimmers participated in this study. In two experimental visits, the swimmers completed the 3-min all-out tethered swimming after performing a 30-min Stroop test with a-tDCS or placebo (Sham) stimulation over the left-oPFC. The brain stimulation conditions (i.e., a-tDCS and Sham) were performed in a double-blinded and counterbalanced order.It was found lower critical force, mean force, force minimum, fatigue index, and aerobic impulse for Sham than a-tDCS (p < 0.05). There was no main effect of condition for peak force (p > 0.05).We concluded that a-tDCS applied over the left-oPFC in female amateur swimmers mentally fatigued maintained endurance performance. From a practical point of view, the use of a-tDCS should be considered to counteract harmful cognitive effects and maintain endurance performance during competitive race events.