PMID- 31765632
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20210405
LR  - 20210405
IS  - 1872-6240 (Electronic)
IS  - 0006-8993 (Linking)
VI  - 1727
DP  - 2020 Jan 15
TI  - Stairways to the brain: Transcutaneous spinal direct current stimulation (tsDCS) 
      modulates a cerebellar-cortical network enhancing verb recovery.
PG  - 146564
LID - S0006-8993(19)30618-3 [pii]
LID - 10.1016/j.brainres.2019.146564 [doi]
AB  - It has long been assumed that the language function is hierarchically organized 
      into specific cortical areas. Here, for the first time, we present direct 
      evidence that the spinal cord takes part in language processing. In a 
      randomized-double blind design, sixteen aphasics underwent a language treatment 
      combined with transcutaneous spinal direct current stimulation (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 a verb naming task. Each experimental condition was run in five 
      consecutive daily sessions over two weeks. Before and after each condition, all 
      patients underwent a resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging 
      (rs-fMRI). After anodal tsDCS, significant functional connectivity changes were 
      found in a cerebellar-cortical network recruiting regions such as the left 
      cerebellum, the right parietal and premotor cortex known to be also involved in 
      action-related verb processing. Indeed, this increase of connectivity 
      significantly correlated with the greatest amount of improvement found in verb 
      naming. In line with our experimental data, we also found a greater improvement 
      after anodal tsDCS also on untreated items of the language test but only on tasks 
      which required the use of verbs, such as verb naming and picture description. No 
      significant changes were found in noun naming. Thus, this evidence emphasizes, 
      for the first time, that the neural response due to tsDCS combined with language 
      treatment changes during the course of recovery by enhancing activity into 
      cortical regions which influence verb processing.
CI  - Copyright (c) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
FAU - Marangolo, Paola
AU  - Marangolo P
AD  - Universita Federico II, 80133, Naples, Italy; IRCCS, Fondazione Santa Lucia, 
      00179, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: paola.marangolo@gmail.com.
FAU - Fiori, Valentina
AU  - Fiori V
AD  - IRCCS, Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00179, Rome, Italy.
FAU - Caltagirone, Carlo
AU  - Caltagirone C
AD  - IRCCS, Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00179, Rome, Italy.
FAU - Incoccia, Chiara
AU  - Incoccia C
AD  - IRCCS, Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00179, Rome, Italy.
FAU - Gili, Tommaso
AU  - Gili T
AD  - IMT Scuola Alti Studi Lucca, 55100, Lucca, Italy. Electronic address: 
      tommaso.gili@imtlucca.it.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Randomized Controlled Trial
DEP - 20191122
PL  - Netherlands
TA  - Brain Res
JT  - Brain research
JID - 0045503
SB  - IM
MH  - Adult
MH  - Aged
MH  - Brain Mapping
MH  - Cerebellum/*physiology
MH  - Cerebral Cortex/*physiology
MH  - Double-Blind Method
MH  - Female
MH  - Humans
MH  - *Language
MH  - Magnetic Resonance Imaging
MH  - Male
MH  - Middle Aged
MH  - Neural Pathways/physiology
MH  - *Spinal Cord Stimulation
MH  - Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - Aphasia
OT  - Language recovery
OT  - Neuromodulation
OT  - Resting state fMRI
OT  - Spinal cord
EDAT- 2019/11/26 06:00
MHDA- 2021/04/07 06:00
CRDT- 2019/11/26 06:00
PHST- 2019/07/10 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2019/11/01 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2019/11/19 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2019/11/26 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2021/04/07 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2019/11/26 06:00 [entrez]
AID - S0006-8993(19)30618-3 [pii]
AID - 10.1016/j.brainres.2019.146564 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Brain Res. 2020 Jan 15;1727:146564. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2019.146564. Epub 
      2019 Nov 22.