• Thomas Cattagni, Maxime Geiger, Anthony Supiot, Philippe de Mazancourt, Didier Pradon, Raphael Zory, and Nicolas Roche.
• Inserm Unit 1179, Team 3: Technologies and Innovative Therapies Applied to Neuromuscular diseases, CIC 805, Physiology-Functional Testing Ward, Raymond-Poincaré Teaching Hospital, University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, AP-HP, 92380 Garches, France; Nantes Université, Movement - Interactions - Performance, MIP, EA 4334, 44000 Nantes, France. Electronic address: thomas.cattagni@univ-nantes.fr.
• Neurophysiol Clin. 2019 Sep 1; 49 (4): 283-293.

ObjectivesThe excitability of some neural circuits involved in walking and affected in individuals with chronic stroke can be modulated during and/or immediately after anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (a-tDCS). This study was designed to investigate the effects of a-tDCS during and immediately after application on leg muscle activity during gait, and on spatiotemporal and kinematic gait parameters in patients with chronic stroke.MethodsThis study was randomized, sham-controlled and double-blinded with a cross-over design and included 24 individuals with chronic stroke. Each participant underwent one 30-minute session each of effective a-tDCS at 2mA and sham tDCS. In both sessions, the anode was placed over the leg motor cortex of the affected hemisphere and the cathode over the contralateral orbit. Six gait trials were performed before, during and immediately after each effective/sham tDCS session. Electromyographic activity of leg muscles, as well as spatiotemporal (e.g. gait speed) and kinematic (e.g. peak knee flexion and ankle dorsiflexion in the swing phase of gait) gait parameters were recorded. Genotyping for the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) Val66Met polymorphism was undertaken since this gene may influence motor skill learning and the effects of tDCS.ResultsNo significant effects of a-tDCS on gait parameters were found either for the total group or for the Val66Met (N=10) and Val66Val (N=14) subgroups.ConclusionA single session of a-tDCS delivered to the leg motor cortex did not immediately improve gait parameters in individuals with chronic stroke, regardless of their BDNF genotype.Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

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