Article

Leukoaraiosis describes ischemic white matter lesions, a leading
cause of gait disturbance in the elderly. OBJECTIVE:
Our aim was to improve gait
and balance in patients with leukoaraiosis by combining a single session of
transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and physical training (PT).
METHODS: We delivered anodal tDCS over midline motor and premotor areas in 9
patients with leukoaraiosis. Patients underwent gait and balance training during
tDCS stimulation (real/sham). This was repeated 1 week later with the stimulation
crossed-over (sham/real) in a double-blind design. Assessments included gait
velocity, stride length, stride length variability (primary gait outcomes), and a
quantitative retropulsion test (primary balance outcome). RESULTS: . Combining
tDCS and PT improved gait velocity, stride length, stride length variability, and
balance (all at P </= .05). Overall, training without tDCS showed no significant
effects. CONCLUSIONS: Combined anodal tDCS and PT improves gait and balance in
this patient group, suggesting that tDCS could be an effective adjunct to PT in
patients with leukoaraiosis, for whom no treatment is currently available.

Langue : ANGLAIS