Bimanual Skill Learning after Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Children with Unilateral Cerebral Palsy: A Brief Report. Dev Neurorehabil 2019 Oct;22(7):504-508
Date
04/04/2019Pubmed ID
30943373Pubmed Central ID
PMC6710148DOI
10.1080/17518423.2019.1600065Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85063962181 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 5 CitationsAbstract
Bimanual skills are important for goal-oriented activities. Children with unilateral cerebral palsy (UCP) have deficits in unimanual and bimanual motor control and learning. The application of non-invasive brain stimulation with existing motor training may further promote motor learning; however, the effects of stimulation on bimanual learning have not been examined. Here, we assessed the performance of a novel bimanual skill (modified Speed Stacks task) in eight children with UCP before, during, and after a combined motor training and brain stimulation intervention. Participants received 10 days (120 min/day) of goal-oriented bimanual therapy combined initially with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS, 20 min/day). Results showed task improvement tapered (p < 0.001) during and after the intervention and task variability decreased in 6/8 participants, indicating the potential impact of novel rehabilitation to improve skill learning in children with UCP. Future work is required to understand how both tDCS and bimanual training contribute to learning bimanual tasks.
Author List
Nemanich ST, Rich TL, Gordon AM, Friel KM, Gillick BTAuthor
Sam Nemanich Ph.D. Assistant Professor in the Occupational Therapy department at Marquette UniversityMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AdolescentCerebral Palsy
Child
Female
Humans
Learning
Male
Motor Skills
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation
Young Adult