Transcranial Electrical Stimulation in Post-Stroke Cognitive Rehabilitation
Where We Are and Where We Are Going
Abstract
Abstract. Cognitive rehabilitation is an important area of neurological rehabilitation, which aims at the treatment of cognitive disorders due to acquired brain damage of different etiology, including stroke. Although the importance of cognitive rehabilitation for stroke survivors is well recognized, available cognitive treatments for neuropsychological disorders, such as spatial neglect, hemianopia, apraxia, and working memory, are overall still unsatisfactory. The growing body of evidence supporting the potential of the transcranial Electrical Stimulation (tES) as tool for interacting with neuroplasticity in the human brain, in turn for enhancing perceptual and cognitive functions, has obvious implications for the translation of this noninvasive brain stimulation technique into clinical settings, in particular for the development of tES as adjuvant tool for cognitive rehabilitation. The present review aims at presenting the current state of art concerning the use of tES for the improvement of post-stroke visual and cognitive deficits (except for aphasia and memory disorders), showing the therapeutic promises of this technique and offering some suggestions for the design of future clinical trials. Although this line of research is still in infancy, as compared to the progresses made in the last years in other neurorehabilitation domains, current findings appear very encouraging, supporting the development of tES for the treatment of post-stroke cognitive impairments.
References
(1988). The executive and ideational components of apraxia. Cortex, 24, 535–543.
(1997). The body in the brain: Neural bases of corporeal awareness. Trends in Neurosciences, 20, 560–564.
(2011). Long-term potentiation and long-term depression: A clinical perspective. Clinics, 66, 3–17.
(2006). Effects of transcranial direct current stimulation on working memory in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 249, 31–38.
(2015). Improving ideomotor limb apraxia by electrical stimulation of the left posterior parietal cortex. Brain, 138, 428–439.
(2013). Multisensory processing after a brain damage: Clues on post-injury crossmodal plasticity from neuropsychology. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 37, 269–278.
(2013). Motor and parietal cortex stimulation for phantom limb pain and sensations. Pain, 154, 1274–1280.
(2009). Using non-invasive brain stimulation to augment motor training-induced plasticity. Journal of Neuroengineering and Rehabilitation, 6, 8.
(2011). Neurophysiological and behavioral effects of tDCS combined with constraint-induced movement therapy in poststroke patients. Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair, 25, 819–829.
(2013). Cognitive rehabilitation for spatial neglect following stroke. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 7, CD003586.
(2014). Treatment of visuospatial neglect with biparietal tDCS and cognitive training: A single-case study. Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience, 8, 1–9.
(2011). A systematic review on reporting and assessment of adverse effects associated with transcranial direct current stimulation. The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, 14, 1133–1145.
(2012). Clinical research with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS): Challenges and future directions. Brain Stimulation, 5, 175–195.
(2011). Mood and cognitive effects of transcranial direct current stimulation in post-stroke depression. Neurocase, 17, 318–322.
(2012). The cognitive rehabilitation of limb apraxia in patients with stroke. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 22, 473–488.
(2005). Evidence-based cognitive rehabilitation: Updated review of the literature from 1998 through 2002. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 86, 1681–1692.
(2014). The stimulated brain: Cognitive enhancement using non-invasive brain stimulation. London, UK: Academic Press.
(2014). Neuromodulation of parietal and motor activity affects motor planning and execution. Cortex, 57, 51–59.
(2007). Cognitive rehabilitation for memory deficits following stroke. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 3, CD002293.
(1998). Functional MRI studies of spatial and nonspatial working memory. Cognitive Brain Research, 7, 1–13.
(2011). Severity of unilateral spatial neglect is an independent predictor of functional outcome after acute inpatient rehabilitation in individuals with right hemispheric stroke. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 92, 1250–1256.
(2009). Enhancement of planning ability by transcranial direct current stimulation. The Journal of Neuroscience, 29, 7271–7277.
(2003). Executive functions and their disorders. British Medical Bulletin, 65, 49–59.
(2007). Activation of prefrontal cortex by transcranial direct current stimulation reduces appetite for risk during ambiguous decision making. The Journal of Neuroscience, 27, 6212–6218.
(2013). Improved multitasking following prefrontal tDCS. Cortex, 49, 2845–2852.
(2006). Phantom limb pain: A case of maladaptive CNS plasticity? Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 7, 873–881.
(2005). Anodal transcranial direct current stimulation of prefrontal cortex enhances working memory. Experimental Brain Research, 166, 23–30.
(2015). Regulatory considerations for the clinical and research use of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS): Review and recommendations from an expert panel. Clinical Research and Regulatory Affairs, 32, 22–35.
(2007). Technology insight: Noninvasive brain stimulation in neurology – Perspectives on the therapeutic potential of rTMS and tDCS. Nature Clinical Practice Neurology, 3, 383–393.
(2000). The module: Crisis of a paradigm. Neuron, 26, 51–53.
(2014). Homonymous hemianopia: Challenges and solutions. Clinical Ophthalmology, 8, 1919–1927.
(2011). Neuroplastic changes following rehabilitative training correlate with regional electrical field induced with tDCS. Neuroimage, 57, 885–891.
(2007). Breakdown of functional connectivity in frontoparietal networks underlies behavioral deficits in spatial neglect. Neuron, 53, 905–918.
(1993).
Apraxia . In K. M. HeilmanE. ValensteinEds., Clinical Neuropsychology (3rd ed., pp. 141–163). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.(2011). Ameliorating spatial neglect with non-invasive brain stimulation: From pathophysiological concepts to novel treatment strategies. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 21, 676–702.
(2007). Combined transcranial direct current stimulation and robot-assisted arm training in subacute stroke patients: A pilot study. Restorative Neurology & Neuroscience, 25, 9–15.
(2003). The effect of tactile and visual sensory inputs on phantom limb awareness. Brain, 126, 579–589.
(2009). Enhancing the working memory of stroke patients using tDCS. American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, 88, 404–409.
(2011). The factors associated with good responses to speech therapy combined with transcranial direct current stimulation in post-stroke aphasic patients. Annals of Rehabilitation Medicine, 35, 460–469.
(2009). Non-invasive cortical stimulation improves post-stroke attention decline. Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, 27, 647–652.
(1998). Computer-based training for the treatment of partial blindness. Nature Medicine, 4, 1083–1087.
(1994). Reorganization of cortical blood flow and transcranial magnetic stimulation maps in human subjects after upper limb amputation. Journal of Neurophysiology, 72, 2517–2524.
(1987).
Mechanisms of Unilateral Neglect . In M. JeannerodEd., Neurophysiological and Neuropsychological Aspects of Spatial Neglect (pp. 69–86). Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Elsevier Science.(2008). Improvement of visual scanning after DC brain polarization of parietal cortex in stroke patients with spatial neglect. Neuroscience Letters, 448, 171–174.
(1977).
The syndrome of apraxia (motor asymboly) based on a case of unilateral apraxia . In D. A. RottenbergF. H. HochbergEds., Neurological classics in modern translation (pp. 155–181). New York, NY: Haffner Press.(2013). Cognitive rehabilitation for attention deficits following stroke. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 5, CD002842.
(2014). Best of both worlds: Promise of combining brain stimulation and brain connectome. Frontiers in System Neuroscience, 8, 132.
(2013). Bihemispheric stimulation over left and right inferior frontal region enhances recovery from apraxia of speech in chronic aphasia. European Journal of Neuroscience, 38, 3370–3377.
(2011). Electrical stimulation over the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) determines long-term effects in the recovery of speech apraxia in three chronic aphasics. Behavioural Brain Research, 225, 498–504.
(2015). Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS): Does it have merit in stroke rehabilitation? A systematic review. International Journal of Stroke, 10, 306–316.
(2001). An integrative theory of prefrontal cortex function. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 24, 167–202.
(2008). Efficacy of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation/transcranial direct current stimulation in cognitive neurorehabilitation. Brain Stimulation, 1, 326–336.
(2011). Brain stimulation and behavioural cognitive rehabilitation: A new tool for neurorehabilitation? Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 21, 553–559.
(2005). Functional neuroimaging studies of cognitive recovery after acquired brain damage in adults. Neuropsychology Review, 15, 169–183.
(2013). Principles of neuroplasticity-based rehabilitation. Progress in Brain Research, 207, 141–171.
(2014). Enhancing vigilance in operators with prefrontal cortex transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). Neuroimage, 85, 909–917.
(2008). Transcranial direct current stimulation: State of the art 2008. Brain Stimulation, 1, 206–223.
(2003). Adaptive plasticity in motor cortex: Implications for rehabilitation after brain injury. Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine, 41, 7–10.
(2013). Long-term effects of serial anodal tDCS on motion perception in subjects with occipital stroke measured in the unaffected visual hemifield. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 7, 314.
(2005). The plastic human brain cortex. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 28, 377–401.
(2011). Transcranial electrical stimulation (tES-tDCS; tRNS, tACS) methods. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 21, 602–617.
(2012). Comparison of visual field training for hemianopia with active versus sham transcranial direct cortical stimulation. Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair, 26, 616–626.
(2012). Temporal profile of functional visual rehabilitative outcomes modulated by transcranial direct current stimulation. Neuromodulation, 15, 367–373.
(2011). Interventions for visual field defects in patients with stroke. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 10, CD008389.
(1999). Delineating necessary and sufficient neural systems with functional imaging studies of neuropsychological patients. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 11, 371–382.
(2014). Anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) increases cortical excitability: Direct evidence from TMS-EEG. Cortex, 58, 99–111.
(2000). Restoration of vision by training of residual functions. Current Opinion in Ophthalmology, 11, 430–436.
(2013). Noninvasive brain stimulation in neurorehabilitation. Handbook of Clinical Neurolology, 116, 499–524.
(2006). Rehabilitation of limb apraxia improves daily life activities in patients with stroke. Neurology, 67, 2050–2052.
(2009). Bidirectional alterations of interhemispheric parietal balance by non-invasive cortical stimulation. Brain, 132, 3011–3020.
(2014). Contributions and challenges for network models in cognitive neuroscience. Nature Neuroscience, 17, 652–660.
(2001). A pilot study of attention deficits, balance control and falls in the subacute stage following stroke. Clinical Rehabilitation, 15, 437–444.
(2008). Cognitive neurorehabilitation (2nd ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
(2013). Effects of dual transcranial direct current stimulation on post-stroke unilateral visuospatial neglect. Neuroscience Letters, 554, 94–98.
(2011). Behavioural facilitation following brain stimulation: Implications for neurorehabilitation. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 21, 618–649.
(2014).
Unilateral spatial neglect . In A. C. NobreS. KastnerEds., The Oxford Handbook of Attention (pp. 972–1025). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.(2009). Somatoparaphrenia: A body delusion. A review of the neuropsychological literature. Experimental Brain Research, 192, 533–551.
(2014). On the challenge of measuring direct cortical reactivity by TMS-EEG. Brain Stimulation, 7, 759–760.
(2008). Dual-hemisphere tDCS facilitates greater improvements for healthy subjects’ non-dominant hand compared to uni-hemisphere stimulation. BMC Neuroscience, 9, 103.
(2007). Transcranial direct current stimulation: A computer-based human model study. Neuroimage, 35, 1113–1124.
(1984). Apraxia of speech in adults: The disorders and its management. Orlando, FL: Grune and Stratton.
(2008). Interventions for motor apraxia following stroke. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 1, CD004132.
(2007). Ideomotor apraxia: A review. Journal of Neurological Sciences, 260, 1–10.
(2006). Natural history of homonymous hemianopia. Neurology, 66, 901–905.
