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Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Motor Function in Children 8-12 Years With Developmental
Melody N Grohs1,2, Brandon T Craig1,2,3, Adam Kirton1,2,3,4
1Department of Neurosciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Insights
Children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) learned motor skills and retained them long-term. However, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) did not enhance this motor learning in the study group.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Pediatric Neurology
- Motor Learning
Background:
- Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) affects 5-6% of school-aged children, often involving motor learning deficits.
- Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is known to enhance motor learning in adults and children.
- The efficacy of tDCS in children with DCD remains uninvestigated.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if tDCS combined with motor skill training improves motor learning in children diagnosed with DCD.
- To assess the impact of tDCS on skill acquisition, transfer, and retention in this pediatric population.
Main Methods:
- Twenty-eight children with DCD were randomized into tDCS treatment or sham groups.
- Participants received anodal tDCS (1 mA, 20 min) daily for 5 days alongside fine manual training.
- Motor function was assessed using the Purdue Pegboard Test and Jebsen-Taylor Hand Function Test at baseline, post-intervention, and 6-week follow-up.
Main Results:
- All participants showed significant motor skill improvement over the training period, irrespective of the group.
- No decline in motor skills was observed at the 6-week retention assessment.
- No significant interaction was found between the intervention group and training day, indicating tDCS did not enhance motor learning.
Conclusions:
- Children with DCD are capable of motor learning and demonstrate long-term retention of skills.
- Motor cortex tDCS, in this study, did not provide additional benefits for motor learning in children with DCD.
- Further rigorous research is necessary to confirm or refute the potential of tDCS for enhancing motor learning in DCD.
Abstract:
Background and objectives: Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is a neurodevelopmental motor disorder occurring in 5-6% of school-aged children. It is suggested that children with DCD show deficits in motor learning. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) enhances motor learning in adults and children but is unstudied in DCD. We aimed to investigate if tDCS, paired with motor skill training, facilitates motor learning in a pediatric sample with DCD. Methods: Twenty-eight children with diagnosed DCD (22 males, mean age: 10.62 ± 1.44 years) were randomized and placed into a treatment or sham group. Anodal tDCS was applied (1 mA, 20 min) in conjunction with fine manual training over 5 consecutive days. Children's motor functioning was assessed with the Purdue Pegboard Test and Jebsen-Taylor Hand Function Test at baseline, post-intervention and 6 weeks following intervention. Group differences in rates of motor learning and skill transfer/retention were examined using linear mixed modeling and repeated measures ANOVAs, respectively. Results: There were no serious adverse events or drop-outs and procedures were well-tolerated. Independent of group, all participants demonstrated improved motor scores over the 5 training days [F (69.280), p < 0.001, 95% CI (0.152, 0.376)], with no skill decay observed at retention. There was no interaction between intervention group and day [F (2.998), p = 0.086, 95% CI (-0.020, 0.297)]. Conclusion: Children with DCD demonstrate motor learning with long-term retention of acquired skill. Motor cortex tDCS did not enhance motor learning as seen in other populations. Before conclusions of tDCS efficacy can be drawn, additional carefully designed trials with reproducible results are required. Clinical Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03453983.
