Peter Poortvliet1, Billie Hsieh2, Andrew Cresswell3, Jacky Au4, Marcus Meinzer2. 1. The University of Queensland, Center for Sensorimotor Performance, School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, Brisbane 4072, Australia; The University of Queensland, Asia-Pacific Center for Neuromodulation, Queensland Brain Institute, Brisbane 4072, Australia. Electronic address: peterpoortvliet@yahoo.com. 2. The University of Queensland, Center for Clinical Research, Herston 4029, Australia. 3. The University of Queensland, Center for Sensorimotor Performance, School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, Brisbane 4072, Australia. 4. The University of California Irvine, Working Memory and Plasticity Lab, Department of Education, Irvine 92697, United States.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE:Rehabilitation interventions contribute to recovery of impaired postural control, but it remains a priority to optimize their effectiveness. A promising strategy may involve transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of brain areas involved in fine-tuning of motor adaptation. This study explored the effects of cerebellar tDCS (ctDCS) on postural recovery from disturbance by Achilles tendon vibration. METHODS:Twenty-eight healthy volunteers participated in this sham-ctDCS controlled study. Standing blindfolded on a force platform, four trials were completed: 60 s quiet standing followed by 20 min active (anodal-tDCS, 1 mA, 20 min, N = 14) or sham-ctDCS (40 s, N = 14) tDCS; three quiet standing trials with 15 s of Achilles tendon vibration and 25 s of postural recovery. Postural steadiness was quantified as displacement, standard deviation and path derived from the center of pressure (COP). RESULTS:Baseline demographics and quiet standing postural steadiness, and backwards displacement during vibration were comparable between groups. However, active-tDCS significantly improved postural steadiness during vibration and reduced forward displacement and variability in COP derivatives during recovery. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrate that ctDCS results in short-term improvement of postural adaptation in healthy individuals. SIGNIFICANCE: Future studies need to investigate if multisession ctDCS combined with training or rehabilitation interventions can induce prolonged improvement of postural balance.
RCT Entities:
OBJECTIVE: Rehabilitation interventions contribute to recovery of impaired postural control, but it remains a priority to optimize their effectiveness. A promising strategy may involve transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of brain areas involved in fine-tuning of motor adaptation. This study explored the effects of cerebellar tDCS (ctDCS) on postural recovery from disturbance by Achilles tendon vibration. METHODS: Twenty-eight healthy volunteers participated in this sham-ctDCS controlled study. Standing blindfolded on a force platform, four trials were completed: 60 s quiet standing followed by 20 min active (anodal-tDCS, 1 mA, 20 min, N = 14) or sham-ctDCS (40 s, N = 14) tDCS; three quiet standing trials with 15 s of Achilles tendon vibration and 25 s of postural recovery. Postural steadiness was quantified as displacement, standard deviation and path derived from the center of pressure (COP). RESULTS: Baseline demographics and quiet standing postural steadiness, and backwards displacement during vibration were comparable between groups. However, active-tDCS significantly improved postural steadiness during vibration and reduced forward displacement and variability in COP derivatives during recovery. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrate that ctDCS results in short-term improvement of postural adaptation in healthy individuals. SIGNIFICANCE: Future studies need to investigate if multisession ctDCS combined with training or rehabilitation interventions can induce prolonged improvement of postural balance.
Authors: Aaron Sathyanesan; Joy Zhou; Joseph Scafidi; Detlef H Heck; Roy V Sillitoe; Vittorio Gallo Journal: Nat Rev Neurosci Date: 2019-05 Impact factor: 34.870
Authors: Lauren N Miterko; Kenneth B Baker; Jaclyn Beckinghausen; Lynley V Bradnam; Michelle Y Cheng; Jessica Cooperrider; Mahlon R DeLong; Simona V Gornati; Mark Hallett; Detlef H Heck; Freek E Hoebeek; Abbas Z Kouzani; Sheng-Han Kuo; Elan D Louis; Andre Machado; Mario Manto; Alana B McCambridge; Michael A Nitsche; Nordeyn Oulad Ben Taib; Traian Popa; Masaki Tanaka; Dagmar Timmann; Gary K Steinberg; Eric H Wang; Thomas Wichmann; Tao Xie; Roy V Sillitoe Journal: Cerebellum Date: 2019-12 Impact factor: 3.847