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Investigating the Effects of Cerebellar Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Post-Stroke Overground Gait Performance: A Partial Least-Squares Regression Approach
Solanki, D.; Rezaee, Z.; Dutta, A.; Lahiri, U. Investigating the Feasibility of Cerebellar Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation to Facilitate Post-Stroke Overground Gait Performance in Chronic Stroke: A Partial Least-Squares Regression Approach. Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation 2021, 18, doi:10.1186/s12984-021-00817-3.
Solanki, D.; Rezaee, Z.; Dutta, A.; Lahiri, U. Investigating the Feasibility of Cerebellar Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation to Facilitate Post-Stroke Overground Gait Performance in Chronic Stroke: A Partial Least-Squares Regression Approach. Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation 2021, 18, doi:10.1186/s12984-021-00817-3.
Solanki, D.; Rezaee, Z.; Dutta, A.; Lahiri, U. Investigating the Feasibility of Cerebellar Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation to Facilitate Post-Stroke Overground Gait Performance in Chronic Stroke: A Partial Least-Squares Regression Approach. Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation 2021, 18, doi:10.1186/s12984-021-00817-3.
Solanki, D.; Rezaee, Z.; Dutta, A.; Lahiri, U. Investigating the Feasibility of Cerebellar Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation to Facilitate Post-Stroke Overground Gait Performance in Chronic Stroke: A Partial Least-Squares Regression Approach. Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation 2021, 18, doi:10.1186/s12984-021-00817-3.
Abstract
Stroke often results in impaired gait, which can limit community ambulation and the quality of life. Recent works have shown the feasibility of transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) as an adjuvant treatment to facilitate gait rehabilitation. Since the cerebellum plays an essential role in balance and movement coordination, which is crucial for independent overground ambulation, so, we investigated the effects of cerebellar tDCS (ctDCS) on the post-stroke overground gait performance in chronic stroke survivors. Fourteen chronic post-stroke male subjects were recruited based on convenience sampling at the collaborating hospitals where ten subjects finally participated in the ctDCS study. We evaluated the effects of two ctDCS montages with 2mA direct current, a) optimized configuration for dentate stimulation with 3.14cm2 disc anode at PO10h (10/5 EEG system) and 3.14cm2 disc cathode at PO9h (10/5 EEG system), and b) optimized configuration for leg lobules VII-IX stimulation with 3.14cm2 disc anode at Exx8 (electrodes defined by ROAST) and 3.14cm2 disc cathode at Exx7. We found ctDCS to be acceptable by all the exposed subjects. The ctDCS intervention had an effect on the 'Normalised Step length Affected side' (p=0.1) and 'Gait Stability Ratio' (p=0.0569), which was found using Wilcoxon signed-rank test at 10% significance level. Also, ctDCS montage specific effect was found using a two-sided Wilcoxon rank-sum test at a 5% significance level for 'Step Time Affected Leg' (p=0.0257) and '%Stance Time Unaffected Leg' (p=0.0376). Moreover, the changes in the quantitative gait parameters across both the montages were found to be correlated to the mean electric field strength in the lobules based on partial least squares regression analysis (R2 statistic = 0.6574) where the mean electric field strength at the cerebellar lobules, Vermis VIIIb, Ipsilesional IX, Vermis IX, Ipsilesional X, had the most loading. In conclusion, our feasibility study indicated the potential of a single session of ctDCS to contribute to the immediate improvement in the balance and gait performance in terms of gait-related indices and clinical gait measures.
Keywords
Gait; Stroke; Cerebellum; Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation
Subject
Medicine and Pharmacology, Other
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
