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Impact of transcranial direct current stimulation on fatigue in multiple sclerosis.

Author information

Affiliations

  • 1. Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, University Medical Center, Georg-August University Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.
      Authors
    • Saiote C 1
    • Timäus C 1
    • Opitz A 1
    • Antal A 1
    • Paulus W 1
    • Nitsche MA 1
    (6 authors)
  • 2. Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, University Medical Center, Georg-August University Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
      Authors
    • Goldschmidt T 2
    (1 author)
  • 3. Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
      Authors
    • Steenwijk MD 3
    (1 author)

ORCIDs linked to this article

Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, 01 Jan 2014, 32(3):423-436
https://doi.org/10.3233/rnn-130372 PMID: 24531295 

Abstract 

Purpose

Fatigue is a frequent and difficult to treat symptom affecting patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) with a profound negative impact on quality of life. Fatigue has been associated with functional and structural abnormalities of the frontal cortex, including frontal hypo-activation. The aim of this exploratory study was to assess whether fatigue symptoms can be reduced by excitability-enhancing anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS).

Methods

In this sham-controlled, double-blind intervention study, tDCS was applied over the left prefrontal cortex of MS patients with fatigue for five consecutive days. Symptoms were tracked for 1 month via questionnaires. Lesion load at baseline was calculated for each patient and correlated with fatigue levels and responsiveness to stimulation.

Results

In the whole group analysis the scores of the fatigue scales were not altered by tDCS. However, in an exploratory analysis we found a correlation between response to the stimulation regarding subjectively perceived fatigue and lesion load in the left frontal cortex: patients responding positively to anodal tDCS had higher lesion load, compared to non-responding patients.

Conclusion

We conclude that in patient subgroups discernible by specific morphological alterations, tDCS may be a tool for MS fatigue management.

Full text links 

Read article at publisher's site: https://doi.org/10.3233/rnn-130372

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