Table 2.
Summarized details of reviewed tDCS articles.
| Study | Patient descriptions | Brain damage | Target symptoms | Stimulation location | Stimulation parameters | # Sessions | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angelakis et al. (58) | n = 4; 3 in PVS, 1 in MCS− following severe closed-head TBI; age range 19–37; 6 months–10 years post-TBI | Not specified | Altered consciousness | Anode: left DLPFC or left primary sensorimotor cortex | Week 1: 1 mA/25 cm2 × 20 min | 10 | Patient 1: PVS to MCS− 1 yr post-tDCS; Patients 2 and 3: no improvement; Patient 4: MCS− to MCS+ 1 week post-tDCS and conscious 2 weeks post-tDCS |
| Cathode: right orbit | Week 2: 2 mA/25 cm2 × 20 min | ||||||
| Kang et al. (59) | n = 9, 5 sham; 8 males; age range 20–78; 216.9 (52.5) days post-closed head TBI | Various (all: SDH or ICH to left or bilateral frontal lobes; n = 4: additional parietal, temporal, occipital, or cingulate damage) | Attention deficits | Anode: left DLPFC | 2 mA/25 cm2 × 20 min | 1 | Immediate but not lasting improvement in attention |
| Cathode: contralateral supraorbital region | |||||||
| Les´niak et al. (60) | n = 23, 11 sham; age range 20–45 years; 4–92 months post-TBI | Various (incl. frontal/parietal/temporal/occipital contusion; cerebellum or BS damage) | Memory and attention deficits | Anode: left DLPFC | 1 mA/35 cm−2 × 10 min | 15 | No improvements in attention or memory |
| Cathode: contralateral supraorbital region | |||||||
| Middleton et al. (61) | n = 5 [1 TBI (age 39, time since injury = 206 months), 1 TBI + stroke (age = 38; 9 months post-injury)] | Not specified; both TBI patients had motor issues affecting their left UE | Motor impairments | Anode: ipsilesional motor cortex | 1.5 mA/25 cm2 × 15 min | 24 | Improvement on UE-FM – persisted at a 6-month follow-up |
| Cathode: contralesional motor cortex | |||||||
| Thibaut et al. (62) | n = 25, 6 post-traumatic UWS; n = 30,19 post-traumatic MCS | Not specified | Altered consciousness | Anode: left DLPFC | 2 mA/35 cm2 × 20 min | 1 | UWS patients: no improvement; MCS patients: improved consciousness |
| Cathode: contralateral supraorbital region | |||||||
| Ulam et al. (63) | n = 23; 13 treatment [age 31.4 (9.8); 57.4 (37.8) days post-injury], 13 sham [age 35.7 (13.7); 41.1 (20.9) days post-injury] | Various (incl. SDH, SAH, frontal/parietal/temporal/occipital contusion; three severe TBI) | Various neuropsych. functions (including attention and memory) | Anode: left DLPFC | 1 mA/25 cm2 × 20 min | 10 | No difference in neuropsych. improvement between groups Active group only: correlation between cortical excitability and neuropsych. improvement |
| Cathode: contralateral supraorbital region |
PVS, persistent vegetative state; MCS, minimally conscious state; DLPFC, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; SDH, subdural hemorrhage; ICH, intracerebral hemorrhage; SAH, subarachnoid hemorrhage; BS, brain stem; UE, upper extremity; UWS, unresponsive wakefulness syndrome; UE-FM, Fugl-Meyer Assessment of Sensorimotor Impairment – upper extremity section.