NCT04787406

Motor Learning and tDCS in Parkinson's Disease

The Effect of Single Session Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Sequential Motor Learning in Parkinson's Disease

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 33 (actual)
• Sponsor: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 40 Years – 80 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The present study sought to examine the efficacy of single session transcranial direct current stimulation applied over the primary motor cortex in people with Parkinson's disease on sequential motor learning performance.

Detailed description

Parkinson's disease is characterised by deficits of motor control triggered by impaired basal ganglia function, such as bradykinesia and tremor. Beyond the visibly recognisable motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease, the ability to learn a sequence of movements is also compromised and poses a significant barrier to effective rehabilitation. In healthy individuals, transcranial direct current stimulation applied over the primary motor cortex during motor task practice has been shown to significantly improve motor learning compared to placebo conditions. The present study sought to examine the effect of a single session of transcranial direct current stimulation applied over the primary motor cortex in people with Parkinson's disease on sequential motor learning performance. Participants learnt two finger tapping sequences, with task difficulty indexed by sequence length, and task consolidation further examined using a dual-task paradigm. Task related cortical haemodynamic activity was recorded using functional near-infrared spectroscopy.

Conditions

• Parkinson Disease

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DEVICE	Transcranial direct current stimulation	Transcranial electrical stimulation device. A weak direct electrical current, up to 2 mA, is passed between two electrodes placed on the scalp. Electrodes are housed in 35 cm2 sponges saturated with 4 ml of saline solution (0.9 % NaCl) per side, per pad. Stimulation is phased in with a 30 second ramp up period prior to the specified stimulation period and phased-out with a ramp down of the current following the specified stimulation period. For sham stimulation, the ramp-up and ramp-down periods are retained, but stimulation is switched off for during the specified stimulation period.

Timeline

• Start date: 2019-01-07
• Primary completion: 2019-09-27
• Completion: 2019-09-27
• First posted: 2021-03-08
• Last updated: 2021-08-26

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Hong Kong