TY - JOUR
T1 - Can Alzheimer's Disease Be Prevented? First Evidence from Spinal Stimulation Efficacy on Executive Functions
AU - Pisano, Francesca
AU - Caltagirone, Carlo
AU - Satriano, Federica
AU - Perri, Roberta
AU - Fadda, Lucia
AU - Marangolo, Paola
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020-IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved.
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Background: Recently, a growing body of evidence has shown that, from the early stage of impairment, Alzheimer's patients (AD) present difficulties on a variety of tasks mostly relying on executive functions. These strongly impact their daily life activities causing a severe loss of independency and autonomy. Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of transpinal direct current stimulation (tsDCS) combined with cognitive trainings for improving attentional and executive function abilities in a group of AD patients. Methods: In a randomized-double blind design, sixteen AD patients underwent different cognitive trainings combined with tsDCS. During the treatment, each subject received tsDCS (20 min, 2 mA) over the thoracic vertebrae (IX-X vertebrae) in two different conditions: 1) anodal, and 2) sham while performing three computerized tasks: alertness, selective attention, and executive functions. Each experimental condition was run in ten consecutive daily sessions over two weeks. Results: After anodal tsDCS, a greater improvement in executive functions compared to sham condition was found. More importantly, the follow-up testing revealed that these effects lasted over 1 month after the intervention and generalized to the different neuropsychological tests administered before, after the treatment and at one month after the end of the intervention. This generalization was present also in the attentional domain. Conclusion: This evidence emphasizes, for the first time, that tsDCS combined with cognitive training results efficacious for AD patients. We hypothesize that enhancing activity into the spinal sensorimotor pathways through stimulation improved cognitive abilities which rely on premotor activity, such as attention and executive functions.
AB - Background: Recently, a growing body of evidence has shown that, from the early stage of impairment, Alzheimer's patients (AD) present difficulties on a variety of tasks mostly relying on executive functions. These strongly impact their daily life activities causing a severe loss of independency and autonomy. Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of transpinal direct current stimulation (tsDCS) combined with cognitive trainings for improving attentional and executive function abilities in a group of AD patients. Methods: In a randomized-double blind design, sixteen AD patients underwent different cognitive trainings combined with tsDCS. During the treatment, each subject received tsDCS (20 min, 2 mA) over the thoracic vertebrae (IX-X vertebrae) in two different conditions: 1) anodal, and 2) sham while performing three computerized tasks: alertness, selective attention, and executive functions. Each experimental condition was run in ten consecutive daily sessions over two weeks. Results: After anodal tsDCS, a greater improvement in executive functions compared to sham condition was found. More importantly, the follow-up testing revealed that these effects lasted over 1 month after the intervention and generalized to the different neuropsychological tests administered before, after the treatment and at one month after the end of the intervention. This generalization was present also in the attentional domain. Conclusion: This evidence emphasizes, for the first time, that tsDCS combined with cognitive training results efficacious for AD patients. We hypothesize that enhancing activity into the spinal sensorimotor pathways through stimulation improved cognitive abilities which rely on premotor activity, such as attention and executive functions.
KW - Alzheimer's disease
KW - cognitive training
KW - neuromodulation
KW - transpinal stimulation
KW - tsDCS
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U2 - 10.3233/JAD-200695
DO - 10.3233/JAD-200695
M3 - Article
C2 - 32925066
AN - SCOPUS:85093885780
VL - 77
SP - 1755
EP - 1764
JO - Journal of Alzheimer's Disease
JF - Journal of Alzheimer's Disease
SN - 1387-2877
IS - 4
ER -