Repeated Anodal tDCS Coupled with Cognitive Training for Patients with Severe Traumatic Brain Injury - A Pilot RCT

Marcin Leśniak, Katarzyna Polanowska, Joanna Seniów

2014

Abstract

Anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (A-tDCS) – a non-invasive neuromodulation technique has been shown to improve cognitive performance both in healthy subjects and patients with brain damage. The aim of this project was to determine whether repeated A-tDCS of the left dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) could enhance efficacy of treatment of memory and attention in patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Twenty-three adult patients, 4-92 months post severe TBI with subsequent cognitive deficits were randomly allocated to two groups. The experimental group received 15 sessions of A-tDCS (10 min; 1 mA; in the DLPFC), followed by cognitive training. Controls received A-tDCS for 30 s (sham condition) with the same rehabilitation program. A battery of memory and attention tests were used as outcome measures. Participants were tested twice before beginning rehabilitation (to control for spontaneous recovery), immediately after rehabilitation completion, and four months later. Tests scores in both groups were similar at three weeks before and immediately before treatment, and spontaneous improvement was minimal. After treatment, the experimental group exhibited larger effect sizes in six out of eight cognitive outcome measures, but they were not significantly different from controls. At follow-up, scores achieved by patients from experimental group remained higher but the differences were insignificant. In conclusion, our study did not provide sufficiently strong evidence to support the efficacy of repeated A-tDCS for enhancing effects of memory and attention treatment in patients after severe TBI.

References

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Paper Citation


in Harvard Style

Leśniak M., Polanowska K. and Seniów J. (2014). Repeated Anodal tDCS Coupled with Cognitive Training for Patients with Severe Traumatic Brain Injury - A Pilot RCT . In - NEUROTECHNIX, ISBN , pages 0-0


in Bibtex Style

@conference{neurotechnix14,
author={Marcin Leśniak and Katarzyna Polanowska and Joanna Seniów},
title={Repeated Anodal tDCS Coupled with Cognitive Training for Patients with Severe Traumatic Brain Injury - A Pilot RCT},
booktitle={ - NEUROTECHNIX,},
year={2014},
pages={},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={},
isbn={},
}


in EndNote Style

TY - CONF
JO - - NEUROTECHNIX,
TI - Repeated Anodal tDCS Coupled with Cognitive Training for Patients with Severe Traumatic Brain Injury - A Pilot RCT
SN -
AU - Leśniak M.
AU - Polanowska K.
AU - Seniów J.
PY - 2014
SP - 0
EP - 0
DO -