Effects of Long-Lasting High-Definition Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Chronic Disorders of Consciousness: A Pilot Study

• Published in: Frontiers in neuroscience 2019-04, Vol.13, p.412-412
• Main Authors: Guo, Yongkun, Bai, Yang, Xia, Xiaoyu, Li, Jinju, Wang, Xiaoli, Dai, Yiwu, Dang, Yuanyuan, He, Jianghong, Liu, Chunying, Zhang, Hui
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: coherence; Coma; Coma Recovery Scale–Revised scores; Consciousness; Cortex (parietal); disorders of consciousness; EEG; Electrical stimulation of the brain; Electroencephalography; ESB; high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation; Neuroscience; Neurosurgery; Rehabilitation; Spinal cord; Transcranial magnetic stimulation
• ISSN: 1662-4548; 1662-453X; 1662-453X
• DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2019.00412

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) recently was shown to benefit rehabilitation of patients with disorders of consciousness (DOC). However, high-Definition tDCS (HD-tDCS) has not been applied in DOC. In this study, we tried to use HD-tDCS protocol (2 mA, 20 min, the precuneus, and sustaining 14 days) to rehabilitate 11 patients with DOC. Electroencephalography (EEG) and Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R) scores were recorded at before (T0), after a single session (T1), after 7 days' (T2), and 14 days' HD-tDCS (T3) to assess the modulation effects. EEG coherence was measured to evaluate functional connectivity during the experiment. It showed that 9 patients' scores increased compared with the baseline. The central-parietal coherence significantly decreased in the delta band in patients with DOC. EEG coherence might be useful for assessing the effect of HD-tDCS in patients with DOC. Long-lasting HD-tDCS over the precuneus is promising for the treatment of patients with DOC.