Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2016 Sep 2;3(1):16.
doi: 10.1186/s40673-016-0054-2. eCollection 2016.

Cerebellar transcranial direct current stimulation in neurological disease

Roberta Ferrucci  1 , Tommaso Bocci  2 , Francesca Cortese  2 , Fabiana Ruggiero  2 , Alberto Priori  3
Affiliations
Review

Cerebellar transcranial direct current stimulation in neurological disease

Roberta Ferrucci et al. Cerebellum Ataxias. .

Abstract

Several studies have highlighted the therapeutic potential of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in patients with neurological diseases, including dementia, epilepsy, post-stroke dysfunctions, movement disorders, and other pathological conditions. Because of this technique's ability to modify cerebellar excitability without significant side effects, cerebellar tDCS is a new, interesting, and powerful tool to induce plastic modifications in the cerebellum. In this report, we review a number of interesting studies on the application of cerebellar tDCS for various neurological conditions (ataxia, Parkinson's disease, dystonia, essential tremor) and the possible mechanism by which the stimulation acts on the cerebellum. Study findings indicate that cerebellar tDCS is a promising therapeutic tool in treating several neurological disorders; however, this method's efficacy appears to be limited, given the current data.

Keywords: Ataxia; Cerebellar tDCS; Dystonia; Essential tremor; Parkinson’s disease.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Groiss SJ, Ugawa Y. Cerebellum. Handb Clin Neurol. 2013;116:643–53. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-444-53497-2.00051-6. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Reeber SL, Otis TS, Sillitoe RV. New roles for the cerebellum in health and disease. Front Syst Neurosci. 2013;7:83. doi: 10.3389/fnsys.2013.00083. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Strick PL, Dum RP, Fiez JA. Cerebellum and nonmotor function. Annu Rev Neurosci. 2009;32:413–34. doi: 10.1146/annurev.neuro.31.060407.125606. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Hoshi E, Tremblay L, Feger J, Carras PL, Strick PL. The cerebellum communicates with the basal ganglia. Nat Neurosci. 2005;8(11):1491–3. doi: 10.1038/nn1544. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bostan AC, Dum RP, Strick PL. The basal ganglia communicate with the cerebellum. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010;107(18):8452–6. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1000496107. - DOI - PMC - PubMed