Effects of different montages of tDCS on functionality in children with cerebral palsy: clinical trial, randomized, sham-controlled, double blind

Abstract

Objective: Verify the effects of differents montages of transcranial direct current stimulation over the primary motor cortex, associated with treadmill training on functionality in children with cerebral palsy (CP) type spastic hemiparesis. Materials and Methods: The population sample that will be part of this project will consist of 30 children with CP type spastic hemiparesis, aged five to twelve years. Children will be randomly allocated into three groups (Group 1: anodal tDCS over the primary motor cortex and cathode over the contralateral supraorbital region associated with treadmill training; Group 2: Sham anodal tDCS over the primary motor cortex and cathode over the region supra contralateral orbital associated with treadmill training; Group3: anodal tDCS over the primary motor cortex of the injured hemisphere and cathodic stimulation in the contralateral primary motor cortex associated with treadmill training. Participants will be assessed at three different times (before, after and one month after the proposed training). The assessment will consist of three-dimensional gait analysis, static balance, functional balance, functional performance, quality of life and electromyographic signals of the lower limbs. The training will be conducted for two consecutive weeks with five training sessions per week, for 20 minutes per session. The transcranial stimulation will be held simultaneously to gait training with an intensity of 1 mA. The results will be statistically analyzed assuming a significance level of 0.05 (p <0.05).For BEPE the student will work with data analysis of her project here in Brazil. (AU)