The impact of transcranial direct current stimulation on neuromuscular control during directional change

The ability to change direction is crucial in soccer; however, evidence regarding acute intervention methods remains limited. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a noninvasive brain modulation technique, has already been shown to enhance muscle function and athletic performance. Still, its influence on athletes' change-of-direction skills-especially at different turning angles-has not been fully clarified. In this study, thirteen male collegiate soccer players were divided into two groups: an experimental group receiving real stimulation and a control group receiving sham stimulation. The experimental group underwent twenty minutes of bilateral anodal tDCS over the primary motor cortex at 2 mA. tDCS significantly improved 45° COD performance (p = 0.027), while no changes were observed at 90°. Electromyography results provided further detail: during 45° turns, the integrated EMG values of the vastus lateralis increased significantly (p = 0.021), and during 90° turns, the root mean square values of the vastus medialis also rose significantly (p = 0.047). Altogether, these findings suggest that tDCS can act as an effective acute intervention to improve athletes' agility in direction changes, offering a practical edge for performance enhancement. This study was prospectively registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR290251, October 15, 2025).