1 - Centre for Rapid and Sustainable Product Development of Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, Portugal;
2 - School of Technology and Management, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, Portugal;
3 - Laboratory of Neuromodulation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital & Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA;
4 - CM-UTAD, Centre for Mathematics of University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal;
5 - Department of Pediatric Neurology, Hospital Dona Estefânia, Centro Hospitalar Lisboa Central, E.P.E.;
6 - Department of Neurophysiology, Centro Hospitalar Psiquiátrico de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.
- Epilepsy & Behavior 2012;25:417–425.
We aimed to investigate the feasibility of an experimental system for simultaneous transcranial DC stimulation (tDCS) and EEG recording in human epilepsy. We report tolerability of this system in a cross-over controlled trial with 15 healthy subjects and preliminary effects of its use, testing repeated tDCS sessions, in two patients with drug-refractory Continuous Spike-Wave Discharges During Slow Sleep (CSWS). Oursystem
combining continuous recording of the EEG with tDCS allows detailed evaluation of the interictal activity during the entire process. Stimulation with 1 mA was well‐tolerated in both healthy volunteers and patients with refractory epilepsy. The large reduction in interictalepileptiform EEG discharges in the two subjects with epilepsy supports further investigation of tDCS using this combined method of stimulation and monitoring in epilepsy. Continuous monitoring of epileptic activity throughout tDCS improves safety and allows detailed evaluation of epileptic activity changes induced by tDCS in patients.
Keywords: focal transcranial DC polarization, EEG recording.