Transcranial direct current stimulation in individuals with spinal cord injury: Assessment of autonomic nervous system activity.

Background: We hypothesized in this study that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of primary motor cortex could exert top-down modulation over subcortical systems associated with autonomic control and thus be useful to revert some of the dysfunctional changes found in the autonomic nervous system (ANS) of subjects with spinal cord injuries (SCI).

Objective: To explore the acute effect of tDCS on ANS indexed by Heart Rate Variability (HRV) in individuals with SCI and analyze whether this effect depends on the gender, degree, level and time of injury.

Methods: In this randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover, double-blinded study, 18 adults with SCI (32.

Transcranial direct current stimulation on the autonomic modulation and exercise time in individuals with spinal cord injury. A case report.

Purpose: To report the effect of the transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) applied over the primary motor cortex (M1) of an individual, a sedentary male subject with complete chronic spinal cord injury at the T11-T12 levels.

Methods: The individual underwent three experimental sessions: control, sham and anodal tDCS. Before, during and after exercise sessions, the following variables were recorded: heart rate variability, Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE), power and glucose (this one only before and after the exercise).