Improvement of motor function with noninvasive cortical stimulation in a patient with chronic stroke

This manuscript reports the effects of transcranial DC stimulation (tDCS), a technique that enhances cortical plasticity in healthy humans, on motor function in a patient with chronic subcortical ischemic stroke. tDCS but not sham applied in a double-blind protocol to motor region of the affected hemisphere led to improvements in pinch force, Jebsen-Taylor Hand Function Test, and simple reaction times in the paretic hand that outlasted the stimulation period for at least 40min. These changes were accompanied by increased corticomotor excitability identified by enhanced recrutiment curves and reduced intracortical inhibition to transcranical magnetic stimulation. These results document a beneficial effect of noninvasive brain stimulation on motor function in a human patient with stroke and raise the hypothesis of it potential application in neurorehabilitation.