Effect of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) on Post-stroke Patients on Neuromotor Recovery

Evaluation of the Efficacy of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) on Neurodegeneration and Neuromotor Recovery on Post-stroke Patients. a Pilot Study

The aim of the study is to evaluate whether a non-invasive brain stimulation technique (Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation) can influence the secondary neurodegeneration observed after a stroke (assessed based on serum concentration of neurofilaments) and can improve the functional outcome.

The present preliminary study aims to evaluate the effects of tDCS (transcranial direct current stimulation) on functional recovery in subacute stroke patients and on neurodegeneration, measuring Neurofilament light chain (NfL) in blood.

It will evaluate:

• baseline NfL levels in patients with subacute stroke;
• the correlation between motor recovery and the blood concentration of NfL in subjects treated with tDCS compared to the control group.
• the effect of tDCS on motor recovery and NfL levels in the 3 months after the stroke event;

Inclusion Criteria:

• partecipants with a first episode of ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke
• partecipants must be enrolled within 30 days from the stroke

Exclusion Criteria:

• partecipants with previous episodes of ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke (evaluation by neuroimaging required)
• uncooperative patients
• medically unstable patients
• partecipants with any other neurodegenerative diseases
• epilepsies
• multiple ischemic lesions
• encephalic trunk ischemic lesions