Traumatic brain injury (TBI) results from an acute alteration in brain function such as loss of consciousness, post-traumatic amnesia, and acute neurologic deficits such as vision or radiologic evidence caused by an external force. TBI causes a broad spectrum of impairments including changes in cognitive, psychological, and motor function. Less than a quarter of moderate and severe TBI patients improve in their cognition after 5 years. These persisting impairments are significant enough to limit activities of daily living, reduce quality of life, and increase socioeconomic burden.
Standard brain imaging generally appears normal even with persisting cognitive and emotional symptoms. It is reported that impaired neurovascular coupling, reduced cerebral blood flow and inflammation, and catecholamine deficiency are some of the leading concerns causing post concussive symptoms.
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) represents a promising noninvasive neuromodulation treatment to improve cognitive, motor function, and emotional function by boosting adaptive neuroplasticity and reducing the pathological sequelae following a TBI. Multiple studies have examined tDCS for enhancement of cognition after TBI, predominantly in the moderate-severe range of TBI severity, with most studies demonstrating significant improvements in attention and executive function domains. tDCS is a safe, non-invasive neuromodulatory technique that can be given as monotherapy but may be best combined with other therapeutic strategies such as cognitive rehabilitation, physical therapy, Hyperbaric Oxygen therapy, and Neurofeedback Therapy to further improve cognitive and motor function. tDCS sessions last 20 minutes are easily implemented in a flexible at home therapy that is very safe and convenient.