Non‐invasive electrical stimulation in patients with neurodegenerative ataxia and spasticity: A systematic review and meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials

Abstract

Ataxia and spasticity are manifestations of a variety of neurodegenerative diseases such as spinocerebellar ataxias, Friedreich's ataxia and multiple sclerosis, and their debilitating effects significantly affect the patients' quality of life [1][2][3]. Of note, hereditary forms of ataxia and spasticity are increasingly viewed as diseases of the same spectrum, for which management options remain poorly studied [4,5]. Unfortunately, there are currently no effective disease-modifying or curative drugs, and the heterogeneous aetiologies of neurodegenerative ataxia and spasticity create a significant challenge to the development of new therapies [5].Non-invasive electrostimulation (NES) is receiving increasing interest particularly because it is portable and cost-effective. Furthermore, it may provide new information regarding brain physiology as well as enhance neural plasticity in neurodegenerative ataxia and spasticity, without exposing the patients to the risks associated with invasive therapies such as deep brain stimulation

Treatment of apathy in Parkinson's disease: A bayesian network meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

“…Examples of such stimulation include transcranial direct current simulation, transcranial alternating current simulation, and transcranial magnetic simulation [ 59 ]. Though the evidence supporting its use remains limited in PD, it has been systematically studied in other psychiatric and neurological disorders and has demonstrated promising results [ 60 , 61 ]. However, the efficacy of such stimulation is patient-dependent and variable, and intensive treatment regimens (daily sessions of stimulation) are frequently required to produce a clinically significant effect.…”