The Effect of Different Models of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Impulsivity in Sports Referees: The Role of Leadership Styles

Non-invasive brain stimulation has been used as a tool to boost the performance in different areas of sports, however; it seems that its effectiveness depends on several variables such as individual differences and the stimulation modalities. Accordingly, 24 male Football, Futsal, Volleyball, Basketball, and Handball referees including 12 with transformational leadership styles and 12 with non-transformational leadership styles voluntarily participated in this study. Each subject visited the laboratory on 3 different occasions interspersed with 72 hours of rest in between. In each session, the impulsivity was first measured by the Go/ No Go impulsivity test and then, subjects were exposed to one of the three models of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) including Anodal, Cathodal, and Sham stimulation for 20 minutes at 2 mA intensity. After the cessation of the stimulation, the impulsivity was again measured under a similar condition. Two-way mixed ANOVA was used for statistical analysis and the results showed that there were significant differences between Anodal and sham, and Cathodal and sham stimulations on impulsivity (p=0.001; p=0.02, respectively) while, no significant differences were seen between the leadership styles on different types of stimulation. As a novel finding, these results indicated the possibility of using tDCS intervention to enhance the performance of sports referees.