Project R-5865

The effect of transcranial direct current stimulation(tDCS) on motor abilities of neurodegenerative patients. (Research)

Stroke is the loss of brain function when blood supply to part of the brain is disrupted causing brain cells to die. This results in various disabilities like, cognitive impairment, language disturbances, lose of motor skills, coordination or balance difficulties etc. Whereas a number of physiotherapy techniques focuses on the gross motor skills of the stroke patients, few techniques are available to ameliorate fine motor skills. The movements produced by the body's small muscle groups are the fine motor skills inherent in an individual ex: drawing, using scissors, tying the shoelace etc. Fine motor skills require precision of movement and accurate control by the brain. While recovery of the gross motor functions helps patients regain mobility and function to a certain extent, recovery of fine motor skills may spell the difference between complete independence and need for assistance in performing activities of daily living. In this project we will focus on writing, as it is an important fine motor skill in regaining a complete independence in daily life activities. transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a non-invasive brain stimulation technique, has shown to be capable of optimizing motor performance in healthy subjects (Cuypers et aL, 2013, Ferrucci et al., 2013, Foerster et al., 2013) and in patients with neurodegenerative disease(Hummel et al., 2005). There is growing evidence that tDCS has a lot of potential to enhance neuro rehabilitation. Previous literature evidence suggests that bi-hemispheric tDCS on motor cortex (M 1 region) improves fine motor skills on stroke patients (Lindenberg et al., 2010, Lefebvre et 2012, Butts et al., 2014). Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effect of bi­hemispheric tDCS stimulation of Motor cortex on hand writing training.

01 January 2015 - 30 April 2015