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The offline effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on postural balance control after stroke.

Completed
Conditions
CVA
stroke
10007963
Registration Number
NL-OMON42035
Lead Sponsor
Radboud Universitair Medisch Centrum
Brief Summary

Not available

Detailed Description

Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
Completed
Sex
Not specified
Target Recruitment
37
Inclusion Criteria

Only people over 18 years old in the chronic phase after experiencing a supratentorial unilateral stroke (> 6 months in the past) that resulted in hemi pareses will be recruited for this study. Furthermore, healthy controls of similar age and with a similar male:female ratio will be enrolled in the study and 10 healthy young controls (18 - 30 year) are included for the tDCS sessions only.

Exclusion Criteria

• Serious head trauma or head, neck or shoulder surgery in the past
• Large or ferromagnetic metal parts in the upper body (except for dental fillings and wire)
• Implanted cardiac pacemaker or neurostimulator (too close to the head) or Venous Access Port
• Pregnancy
• Skin diseases at intended electrode sites (tDCS or EMG electrodes)
• Any prescribed medication that can alter cortical excitability (e.g. anti epileptics, tricyclic anti-depressives or benzodiazepines) within two weeks prior to participation.
• Participated in a TMS or tCS study less than 1 year ago.
• Suffering from claustrophobia
• Suffering from epilepsy
• Irremovable piercing or medical patch
• Any neurological or orthopaedic disorder (other than stroke) that may interfere with the MRI outcomes of interest and/or with the performance on the movement tasks
• Disorders of hearing, which cannot be corrected to normal.
• Medication negatively affecting balance or reaction times (e.g. neuroleptics, antidepressants, anticonvulsants, sedatives)
• Severe cognitive impairment (mini mental state examination (MMSE) <24)

Study & Design

Study Type
Observational non invasive
Study Design
Not specified
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
<p>Influence of tDCS (anodal, cathodal and sham) and group differences on:<br /><br>- muscle onsets of the primovers measured by EMG in lower extremity movements<br /><br>- quality of balance responses (leg angle of the step leg)<br /><br><br /><br>Influence on the effect of tDCS by:<br /><br>- MRI based measures (DTI) of structural integrity of the corticoreticular<br /><br>pathway and the corticospinal tract </p><br>
Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
<p>- Influence of tDCS (anodal, cathodal and sham) on muscle amplitudes of the<br /><br>prime movers measured by EMG in lower extremity movements<br /><br>- Relation between the effecs of tDCS and functional (step onset) and clinical<br /><br>outcomes<br /><br>- Other MRI related outcomes, as functional connectivity in relation to the<br /><br>effects of tDCS on the lower extremity movments</p><br>
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