Document Type : Original article
Authors
1
Department Motor behavior and Corrective Exercises,Faculty of Sport Sciences, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran.
2
2. Exercise Metabolism and Performance lab (EMPL), Department of Exercise Physiology, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran.
3
Department of Pediatric Neurology, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran.
4
Research Group in Neuroscience of Human Movement (NeuroMove), Department of Physical Education, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil
10.22037/sjrm.2025.117413.3341
Abstract
Background and Aims
Neuroplasticity refers to the reorganization of new neural pathways. Mirror visual feedback is a complementary neurorehabilitation technique that, along with modern technologies such as transcranial direct current stimulation, utilizes neuroplasticity. The aim of this study is to examine the effect of transcranial direct current stimulation before and during mirror visual feedback on eye-hand coordination in children with unilateral cerebral palsy.
Materials and Methods
12 children with hemiplegia cerebral palsy (mean age 7.57 ± 2.29) participated in this randomized, crossover, double-blind and within-group experimental design. They were randomly exposed to one of of four intervention conditions including 1) a-tDCS-offline; 2) s-tDCS-offline; 3) a-tDCS-online; 4) s-tDCS-online, with a one-week interval. The Beery visual-motor integration test was used to assess eye-hand coordination. Data were analyzed using a two-way repeated measures ANOVA (4 × 2 factorial design; 4 experimental conditions and 2 time points).
Results
The results showed that eye-hand coordination in offlin anodal conditions was significantly higher than in other conditions (p < 0.05). Additionally, the results of the simple effect of time indicated that the values of eye-hand coordination in offline anodal conditions had significantly increased (p < 0.05), while in online anodal conditions, it had significantly decreased (p = 0.003). The results also showed that there was no significant difference in the results between online and offline counting conditions (p < 0.05)
Conclusion
The results of this research indicated that the sequential combination of mirror visual feedback with transcranial direct current stimulation (offline) yielded better results compared to other conditions. This is due to the priming stimulation mechanism, in which previous activities create a more effective response to subsequent exercises. However, the simultaneous combination (online) led to decreased performance, which is related to the interference mechanism; therefore, considering the priming mechanism by occupational therapists can significantly facilitate improvement in motor performance.
Keywords
Main Subjects
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