Comparison of the Influence of tDCS and tACS Noninvasive Brain Stimulation Treatments on Pain Perception and Severity of Symptoms in Patients with Migraine

Comparing the effect of tDCS and tACS treatment on the average score of pain perception and severity of migraine symptoms questionnaires, the average duration, intensity, and number of migraine attacks per unit of time (month)

Controlled, parallel-group, single-blind (participants), randomized, phase 3 clinical trial on 45 patients, using random numbers in a randomization calculator

Zahedan; Baharan Psychiatric Hospital 10 min. relaxation at the beginning of each Sess. Stim. while sitting on a chair Closed eyelids No activity Quiet place

People with migraine diagnoses who are referred by public or private pain clinics, internal neurologists, and neurologists criteria: adult, Migraine onset age under 50, Having at least primary school education, No history of hospitalization in a psychiatric hospital, Not suffering from severe depression/anxiety, No history of cardiovascular diseases, No addiction to alcohol or other substances, Absence of other forms of headache, Absence of neurological disorders or cerebrovascular diseases, No previous history of receiving any other type of brain stem; No new medication starting (in case of the first visit) or no changing of the prescribed medication from 2 weeks before the start of the intervention to two weeks after the end of the intervention.

Intervention 1: Anodal tDCS on the M1 region, an intensity of 2mA for 20 minutes, 12 Sess. (3 Sess. per week), cathode on the left shoulder. Intervention 2: tACS on the M1 region, the intensity of 2mA, 10 Hz freq. for 20 minutes, 12 sessions (3 sessions per week), cathode on the left shoulder. Control group: Only completing the questionnaires with an interval of 1 month.

Questionnaires scores; duration, intensity, and number of migraine attacks per unit of time (month)

Clients receiving a diagnosis of migraine from internal neurologists, neurologists, or pain specialists will be included in the study in the form of available sampling. If they meet the before randomization inclusion criteria we generate random numbers from 1 to 99 using a calculator for each client. If the random number is between 1 and 33, the person will be in the tDCS group, if the random number is between 34 and 66, the person will be in the tACS group, and if the random number is between 67 and 99, the person will be in the control group. If each group is completed, the range of numbers will be reduced by one-third (i.e. 1 to 66) and randomization will be done between the remaining two groups.

Participants in two intervention groups and one control group are not aware of which group they are in. The participants of the control group are asked to complete the questionnaires and wait for one month to participate in the research, and during this time they must comply with the condition of not changing the medication prescription. Once at the beginning and once at the end of the period, the questionnaires would get completed by them and after that, if they wish to continue participating in the research, the treatment will also apply for them.