In this study researchers will apply transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) for 5 consecutive days in chronic patients in minimally conscious state (MCS).
Positive effects of tDCS in patients in MCS was showed in a recent study published in Neurology. But the effects went down after 1 or 2 hours. To increase the lasting of the effects, a new study will evaluate the effects of tDCS on the precuneus cortex for 5 consecutive days in chronic patients in MCS. 2 sessions of 5 days of stimulation will be realized, one session will be real (anodal stimulation) and one placebo (sham stimulation). After each stimulation, behavioral improvement will be assessed with the Coma Recovery Scale Revised (CRS-R). A final assessment will be done 5 days after the end of the sessions to assess the long term effect of the tDCS. Researchers expected to see an improvement of the CRS-R total score at the end of the anodal session and that this improvement persists for 5 days.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
QUADRUPLE
Enrollment
33
anodal transcranial direct current stimulation on the precuneus cortex for the anodal session and sham stimulation (5secondes of tDCS) for the sham session.
Change in the CRS-R total score
Improvement of the CRS-R total score after the end of the anodal session and 5 days later but no change for the sham session
Time frame: After each stimulation and 5 days later for anodal and sham sessions (total: 1 month)
Influence of the time since insult
Influence of the time since insult of the results. Researchers expected that the longer a patient is in MCS, the lower is his/her improvement after the tDCS session.
Time frame: one month
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