TDCS Assists in Motor Learning in Stroke Patients

Transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS) on the brain was used in attempt to find a way to allow stroke patients to recover their motor skills. Strokes are the leading cause of motor impairments in people. A stroke is caused by an interruption of blood supply to the brain. Depending on which part of the brain was affected their motor skills range in severity. Someone who had a stroke would have to go to physical therapy to regain the motor skills that they had before. Though everyone is different, on average a person would be limited for 8 years or more before they can regain their motor efficiency. TDCS would increase the synaptic plasticity, meaning it changes how the neurons are excited. The neurons would have a lower threshold, meaning that it would require less excitatory signals to send a signal. Which would allow the stroke patients to use less effort compared to a healthy human to send a signal for movement. When comparing stroke patients who went through TDCS and patients who did not, it was found that TDCS did not work as planned. The results showed that the retention of motor skills between the use of TDCS and not were equal. Memory of how to do the motor skill were not remembered, just like patients that did go through TDCS. Therefore, TDCS did not improve anything and would be unnecessary as a treatment for stroke patients.