The effects of spaced transcranial Direct Current Stimulation combined with conventional dysphagia therapy in Parkinson’s disease: A case report

Authors

  • Ali Akbar Dashtelei Speech Therapy Department, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  • Michael A. Nitsche Department Psychology and Neurosciences, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany; Department of Neurology, University Medical Hospital Bergmannsheil, Bochum, Germany
  • Jalal Bakhtiyari Speech Therapy Department, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  • Seyed Amirhassan Habibi Department of Neurology, Rasoul Akram Hospital, Iran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran
  • Mojtaba Sepandi Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Baqyiatallah University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran; Health Research Center, Life Style Institute, Baqyiatallah University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran
  • Ahmad Reza Khatoonabadi Speech Therapy Department, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Terhan, Iran. E-mail: khatoonabadi@tums.ac.ir

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17179/excli2020-2434

Keywords:

Parkinson’s disease, dysphagia, transcranial Direct Current Stimulation, non-invasive brain stimulation, swallowing rehabilitation

Abstract

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system that is characterized by a set of motor and non-motor symptoms. Impaired swallowing or dysphagia is one relatively common motor symptom in patients with PD. We investigated whether neuroplasticity induction by spaced transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) combined with conventional swallowing therapy leads to long-lasting effects on swallowing ability in patients with PD. We present a case of a 61-year-old male PD patient with dysphagia. Conventional Swallowing Therapy (CDT) combined with tDCS (bilateral anodal, 1 mA, 20 min, 10 online sessions, twice daily with a 20 min interval in between for five days over two weeks) was applied over the pharyngeal motor cortex. Our findings suggest that anodal tDCS combined with CDT is feasible, safe, and well-tolerated, and leads to a clinically relevant improvement of swallowing functions.

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Published

2020-06-04

How to Cite

Dashtelei, A. A., Nitsche, M. A., Bakhtiyari, J., Habibi, S. A., Sepandi, M., & Khatoonabadi, A. R. (2020). The effects of spaced transcranial Direct Current Stimulation combined with conventional dysphagia therapy in Parkinson’s disease: A case report. EXCLI Journal, 19, 745–749. https://doi.org/10.17179/excli2020-2434

Issue

Vol. 19 (2020)

Section

Case reports

License

Copyright (c) 2020 Ali Akbar Dashtelei, Michael A. Nitsche, Jalal Bakhtiyari, Seyed Amirhassan Habibi, Mojtaba Sepandi, Ahmad Reza Khatoonabadi

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