Abstract
The beneficial effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) for stroke rehabilitation are limited by the variability in changes in corticomotor excitability (CME) after tDCS. Neuronal activity is closely related to cerebral blood flow; however, the cerebral hemodynamics of neuromodulation in relation to neural effects have been less explored. In this study, we examined the effects of tDCS on cerebral blood velocity (CBv) in chronic stroke survivors using transcranial Doppler (TCD) ultrasound in relation to changes in CME and described the neurovascular characteristics of tDCS responders. Middle cerebral artery (MCA) CBv, cerebrovascular resistance (CVRi) and other cerebral hemodynamics-related variables were continuously measured before and after 15 min of 1 mA anodal tDCS to the lesioned lower limb M1. tDCS did not modulate CBv in the whole group and upon TMS-based stratification of responders and non-responders. However, at baseline, responders demonstrated lower CME levels, lower CBv and higher CVRi as compared to non-responders. These results indicate a possible difference in baseline CME and CBv in tDCS responders that may influence their response to neuromodulation. Future trials with a large sample size and repeated baseline measurements may help validate these findings and establish a relationship between neuromodulation and neurovascular mechanisms in stroke.
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Data accessibility
Deidentified data that support the findings of this study will be available on reasonable request from the corresponding author (S.M.) after completion of secondary analyses.
Abbreviations
- CME:
-
Corticomotor excitability
- CBF:
-
Cerebral blood flow
- CBv:
-
Cerebral blood velocity
- MBv:
-
Mean blood velocity
- CVRi:
-
Cerebrovascular resistance index
- PI:
-
Pulsatility index
- Et-CO2 :
-
End-tidal carbon dioxide
- tDCS:
-
Transcranial direct current stimulation
- TMS:
-
Transcranial magnetic stimulation
- MCA:
-
Middle cerebral artery
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the members of Brain Plasticity Lab. This work was partly supported by a grant funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH) R01HD075777 (SM).
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Iyer, P.C., Rosenberg, A., Baynard, T. et al. Influence of neurovascular mechanisms on response to tDCS: an exploratory study. Exp Brain Res 237, 2829–2840 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-019-05626-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-019-05626-8