Feasibility of the Use of Electrical Stimulation Using tDCS to Influence Executive Abilities After Traumatic Brain Injury Patients

Detailed Summary

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) particularly affects the frontal lobes and patients often suffer from executive dysfunction and behavioral disturbances. These types of injuries often involve axonal damage to pre frontal brain areas, which mediate various cognitive and behavioral functions. Dorsolateral prefrontal circuit lesions cause executive dysfunction, orbitofrontal circuit lesions lead to personality changes characterized by disinhibition and anterior cingulate circuit lesions present with apathy. Patients who suffered traumatic frontal lobe damage often demonstrate a lasting, profound disturbance of emotional regulation and social cognition. Weak transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) induces persisting excitability changes in the human motor cortex. this effect depends on the stimulation polarity and is specific to the site of stimulation. Interacting with cortical activity, by means of cortical stimulation, can positively affect the short-term cognitive performance and improve the rehabilitation potential of neurologic patients. In this respect, preliminary evidence suggests that cortical stimulation may play a role in treating aphasia, unilateral neglect, and other cognitive disorders. Several possible mechanisms can account for the effects of tDCS and other methods on cognitive performance. They all reflect the potential of these methods to improve the subject's ability to relearn or to acquire new strategies for carrying out behavioral tasks. It was also found that Activation of prefrontal cortex by tDCS reduces appetite for risk during ambiguous decision making. In this tDCS study the investigator uses one anode and one cathode electrode placed over the scalp to modulate a particular area of the central nervous system (CNS). The stimulation is administered via the neuroConn DC.Stimulator Serial number 0096. The DC-STIMULATOR is a micro-processor-controlled constant current source. The DC-STIMULATOR is a CE-certified medical device for conducting non-invasive transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on people.Electrode positioning is determined according to the International EEG 10-20 System.

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