Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32210025›Full record

ArticleBrain sciences2020

Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Hand Dexterity in Multiple Sclerosis: A Design for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Samar S Ayache, Naji Riachi, Rechdi Ahdab, Moussa A Chalah

Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Brain sciences, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07098273 (Restoring Manual Dexterity in Multiple Sclerosis), which is not on this map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 42% 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.

NCT07098273 nanot yet recruitingnot on this mapstarted 2025, after this paper: background citation

Restoring Manual Dexterity in Multiple Sclerosis: A Feasibility Study Combining Muscle Electrostimulation and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation To Enhance Neuroplasticity

TypeinterventionalSponsorFondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi ETSRan2025 to 2027Enrolled50ConditionsMultiple SclerosisArmsTMS and FES- based rehabilitation, FES-based rehabilitation
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
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

4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Samar S AyacheEA 4391, Excitabilité Nerveuse et Thérapeutique, Université Paris-Est-Créteil, 94010 Créteil, France.
Naji RiachiNeurology Division, Lebanese American University Medical Center Rizk Hospital, Beirut 113288, Lebanon.
Rechdi AhdabNeurology Division, Lebanese American University Medical Center Rizk Hospital, Beirut 113288, Lebanon.
Moussa A ChalahEA 4391, Excitabilité Nerveuse et Thérapeutique, Université Paris-Est-Créteil, 94010 Créteil, France.
Université Paris-Est Créteil · FRUniversity Medical Center Rizk Hospital · LB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundCerebellar and motor tracts are frequently impaired in multiple sclerosis (MS). Altered hand dexterity constitutes a challenge in clinical practice, since medical treatment shows very limited benefits in this domain. Cerebellar control is made via several cerebellocortical pathways, of which the most studied one links the cerebellum to the contralateral motor cortex via the contralateral ventro-intermediate nucleus of the thalamus influencing the corticospinal outputs. Modulating the activity of the cerebellum or of the motor cortex could be of help.

methodThe main interest here is to evaluate the efficacy of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a noninvasive brain stimulation technique, in treating altered dexterity in MS. Forty-eight patients will be recruited in a randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled, and crossover study. They will randomly undergo one of the three interventions: anodal tDCS over the primary motor area, cathodal tDCS over the cerebellum, or sham. Each block consists of five consecutive daily sessions with direct current (2 mA), lasting 20 min each. The primary outcome will be the improvement in manual dexterity according to the change in the time required to complete the nine-hole pegboard task. Secondary outcomes will include fatigue, pain, spasticity, and mood. Patients' safety and satisfaction will be rated. DISCUSSION: Due to its cost-effective, safe, and easy-to-use profile, motor or cerebellar tDCS may constitute a potential tool that might improve dexterity in MS patients and therefore ameliorate their quality of life.

Indexed as

cerebellumhand dexteritymotor cortexmultiple sclerosistDCStranscranial direct current stimulation

Identifiers

PMID32210025
PMCPMC7139332
OpenAlexW3012774499

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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.