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REVIEW article

Front. Physiol.
Sec. Exercise Physiology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fphys.2024.1464326
This article is part of the Research Topic Responses and Adaptations to Novel Exercise Modalities View all articles

Electrical stimulation: a potential alternative to positively impact cerebral health?

Provisionally accepted
Mael Descollonges Mael Descollonges 1,2*Rémi Chaney Rémi Chaney 1Philippe Garnier Philippe Garnier 1,3Anne Prigent-Tessier Anne Prigent-Tessier 1Julien V. Brugniaux Julien V. Brugniaux 4Gaelle Deley Gaelle Deley 1
  • 1 INSERM U1093 Cognition, Action et Plasticité Sensomotrice, Dijon, France
  • 2 Kurage, Lyon, France
  • 3 Département Génie Biologique, IUT Dijon, Dijon, Burgundy, France
  • 4 INSERM U1042 Laboratoire Hypoxie et Physiopathologies cardiovasculaires et respiratoires (HP2), Grenoble, Rhône-Alpes, France

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    An increasing body of evidence confirms the effectiveness of physical exercise (PE) in promoting brain health by preventing age-related cognitive decline and reducing the risk of neurodegenerative diseases. The benefits of PE are attributed to neuroplasticity processes which have been reported to enhance cerebral health. However, moderate to high-intensity PE is necessary to induce these responses and these intensities cannot always be achieved especially by people with physical limitations. As a countermeasure, electrical stimulation (ES) offers several benefits, particularly for improving physical functions, for various neurological diseases. This review aims to provide an overview of key mechanisms that could contribute to the enhancement in brain health in response to ES-induced exercise, including increases in cerebral blood flow, neuronal activity, and humoral pathways. This narrative review also focuses on the effects of ES protocols, applied to both humans and animals, on cognition. Despite a certain paucity of research when compared to the more classical aerobic exercise, it seems that ES could be of interest for improving cerebral health, particularly in people who have difficulty engaging in voluntary exercise.

    Keywords: neuromuscular electrical stimulation; functional electrical stimulation, cerebral blood flow, Neuronal activity, Cognition, neuroplasticity, humoral pathway

    Received: 13 Jul 2024; Accepted: 04 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Descollonges, Chaney, Garnier, Prigent-Tessier, Brugniaux and Deley. 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: Mael Descollonges, INSERM U1093 Cognition, Action et Plasticité Sensomotrice, Dijon, France

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.