Does transcranial direct current stimulation affect selective visual attention in children with left-sided infantile hemiplegia? A randomized, controlled pilot study

• Published in: Brain impairment Vol. 22; no. 2; pp. 152 - 164
• Main Authors: Alharbi, Raed A., Aloyuni, Saleh A., Kashoo, Faizan, Waly, Mohamed I., Singh, Harpreet, Ahmad, Mehrunnisha
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bowen Hills CSIRO 01.09.2021
• Subjects: Age; Cognitive ability; Electrodes; Guardians; Intelligence tests; Memory; Neurological disorders; Paralysis; Parents & parenting; Questionnaires; Traumatic brain injury
• ISSN: 1443-9646; 1839-5252
• DOI: 10.1017/BrImp.2020.20

Objective:Infantile hemiplegia due to brain injury is associated with poor attention span, which critically affects the learning and acquisition of new skills, especially among children with left-sided infantile hemiplegia (LSIH). This study aimed to improve the selective visual attention (SVA) of children with LSIH through transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS).Methods:A total of 15 children participated in this randomized, double-blinded, pilot study; of them, 10 experienced LSIH, and the remaining 5 were healthy age-matched controls. All the children performed the Computerized Stroop Color-Word Test (CSCWT) at baseline, during the 5th and 10th treatment sessions, and at follow-up. The experimental (n = 5) and control groups (n = 5) received tDCS, while the sham group (n = 5) received placebo tDCS. All three groups received cognitive training on alternate days, for 3 weeks, with the aim to improve SVA.Results:Two-way repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed a statistically significant change in the mean scores of CSCWT between time points (baseline, 5th and 10th sessions, and follow-up) within-subject factor, group (experimental, sham) between-subject factor and interaction (time points X group) (p < 0.005). Furthermore, a one-way repeated measures ANOVA showed significant differences between time point (p < 0.005) for the experimental and control group but not the sham group.Conclusion:These pilot results suggest that future research should be conducted with adequate samples to enable conclusions to be drawn.