Article

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether a single session of anodal transcranial direct
current stimulation to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex improves attention
in patients with traumatic brain injury. DESIGN: Double-blinded, cross-over design. PATIENTS: Nine patients with attention deficit after traumatic brain
injury. METHODS: Patients underwent a computerized contrast reaction time task
before and after the administration of real transcranial direct current
stimulation (2 mA for 20 min) or sham transcranial direct current stimulation (2
mA for 1 min) to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in a double-blind,
crossover manner. RESULTS: Immediately post-stimulation, the transcranial direct
current stimulation group showed a tendency of shortened reaction time relative
to baseline (87.3 +/- 7.8%), whereas the sham stimulation group (122.4 +/-
715.5%) did not (p = 0.056). However, this difference was not significant 3 or 24
h after stimulation (p > 0.05). The numbers of correct responses were not changed
at any time after stimulation. CONCLUSION: Anodal transcranial direct current
stimulation applied to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex improves attention
compared with sham stimulation in patients with traumatic brain injury, which
suggests a potential role for this intervention in improving attention during
cognitive training after traumatic brain injury. A further prospective randomized
trial is required to confirm the benefits conferred by transcranial direct
current stimulation in this patient population.

Langue : ANGLAIS