Evidence map›Paper›PMID 22618381›Full record

Trial reportStroke2012

Modulation of training by single-session transcranial direct current stimulation to the intact motor cortex enhances motor skill acquisition of the paretic hand.

Máximo Zimerman, Kirstin F Heise, Julia Hoppe, Leonardo G Cohen, Christian Gerloff, Friedhelm C Hummel

Open access · bronzeAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Stroke, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 102 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
102citing papers in PubMed, 7 pooled it
16.2field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

102 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 207 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Pooled it
  7. Pooled it
  8. Trial
  9. Trial
  10. Trial
  11. Trial
  12. Trial
  13. Trial
  14. Trial
  15. Trial
  16. Trial
  17. Oral supplementation with L-homoarginine in young volunteers.British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2016
    Trial
  18. Trial
  19. Trial
  20. Trial

42 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.

Máximo ZimermanBrain Imaging and Neurostimulation Labor, Department of Neurology, University Medical Center, Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Kirstin F Heise
Julia Hoppe
Leonardo G Cohen
Christian Gerloff
Friedhelm C Hummel
Universität Hamburg · DE

Funding

Cortical reorganization and plasticity In the Healthy BrainZIANS002978 · NINDS · NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS AND STROKE · PI COHEN, LEONARDO GREGORIO · 2009 to 2025
$38.0M
Modulating brain plasticity in rehabilitation of stroke and other brain lesionsZIANS003030 · NINDS · NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS AND STROKE · PI COHEN, LEONARDO GREGORIO · 2009 to 2025
$23.2M
Intramural NIH HHS ZIA NS002978
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

background and purposeMechanisms of skill learning are paramount components for stroke recovery. Recent noninvasive brain stimulation studies demonstrated that decreasing activity in the contralesional motor cortex might be beneficial, providing transient functional improvements after stroke. The more crucial question, however, is whether this intervention can also enhance the acquisition of complex motor tasks, yielding longer-lasting functional improvements. In the present study, we tested the capacity of cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) applied over the contralesional motor cortex during training to enhance the acquisition and retention of complex sequential finger movements of the paretic hand.

methodTwelve well-recovered chronic patients with subcortical stroke attended 2 training sessions during which either cathodal tDCS or a sham intervention were applied to the contralesional motor cortex in a double-blind, crossover design. Two different motor sequences, matched for their degree of complexity, were tested in a counterbalanced order during as well as 90 minutes and 24 hours after the intervention. Potential underlying mechanisms were evaluated with transcranial magnetic stimulation.

resultstDCS facilitated the acquisition of a new motor skill compared with sham stimulation (P=0.04) yielding better task retention results. A significant correlation was observed between the tDCS-induced improvement during training and the tDCS-induced changes of intracortical inhibition (R(2)=0.63).

conclusionsThese results indicate that tDCS is a promising tool to improve not only motor behavior, but also procedural learning. They further underline the potential of noninvasive brain stimulation as an adjuvant treatment for long-term recovery, at least in patients with mild functional impairment after stroke.

Indexed as

Stroke RehabilitationAdultAgedCross-Over StudiesData Interpretation, StatisticalDouble-Blind MethodElectric StimulationEvoked Potentials, MotorFemaleFingersHandHumansMaleMiddle AgedMotor CortexMotor Skills

Identifiers

PMID22618381
PMCPMC4879963
OpenAlexW2064434028

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.