Impact of cerebellar transcranial direct current stimulation on FA brain and cerebellar neurophysiological fingerprints and on clinical symptoms assessed by multimodal evaluations

With a previous grant from FARA the lead investigator for this project, Dr Gilles Naeije, has shown that cerebellar transcranial direct current stimulation (ctDCS), a technique that applies low-current electrical stimulation to the brain, improved ataxic motor and cognitive symptoms in a small number of FA patients. The pilot study, while encouraging, uncovered marked interindividual differences in ctDCS response and hinted at the possibility that longer treatments might be more beneficial. Moreover, a subset of patients exhibited subjective and observable improvements in both balance and speech with ctDCS that were not captured by the Scale for the Assessment and Rating of Ataxia (SARA). The aim of this large collaborative project involving 5 investigators from 4 different countries is twofold. First, to study the clinical effect of longer and repeated sessions of ctDCS on FA clinical symptoms in a randomized sham-controlled study, using validated clinical scales as well as specific in-depth evaluation of speech and balance symptoms, using automated speech analysis and posturography measurements. Second, to measure the activity of certain circuits of the brain and study how they are affected in FA and how their alterations can be predictive of individual responses to ctDCS.