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Neuropsychological
Rehabilitation: An International
Journal
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http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/pnrh20
Transcranial direct current
stimulation and cognitive
training in the rehabilitation of
Alzheimer disease: A case study
a
b
Barbara Penolazzi , Susanna Bergamaschi ,
c
b
Massimiliano Pastore , Daniele Villani , Giuseppe
a
abd
Sartori & Sara Mondini
a
Department of General Psychology, University of
Padua, Italy
b
Casa di Cura “Figlie di San Camillo”, Cremona, Italy
c
Department of Developmental and Social Psychology,
University of Padua, Italy
d
Human Inspired Technologies Research Centre-HIT,
Padua, Italy
Published online: 07 Nov 2014.
To cite this article: Barbara Penolazzi, Susanna Bergamaschi, Massimiliano Pastore,
Daniele Villani, Giuseppe Sartori & Sara Mondini (2014): Transcranial direct current
stimulation and cognitive training in the rehabilitation of Alzheimer disease: A
case study, Neuropsychological Rehabilitation: An International Journal, DOI:
10.1080/09602011.2014.977301
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09602011.2014.977301
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Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 2014
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09602011.2014.977301
Downloaded by [Universita di Padova] at 22:58 09 November 2014
Transcranial direct current stimulation and cognitive
training in the rehabilitation of Alzheimer disease: A
case study
Barbara Penolazzi1, Susanna Bergamaschi2,
Massimiliano Pastore3, Daniele Villani2, Giuseppe Sartori1,
and Sara Mondini1,2,4
1
Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Italy
Casa di Cura “Figlie di San Camillo”, Cremona, Italy
3
Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Padua,
Italy
4
Human Inspired Technologies Research Centre-HIT, Padua, Italy
2
(Received 4 November 2013; accepted 14 October 2014)
In the present study we tested the cognitive effects of transcranial direct current
stimulation (tDCS) in a case of probable Alzheimer disease (AD). The patient
(male, 60 years, mild AD) underwent two cycles of treatments, separated by
2 months. In the first cycle, active stimulation (10 sessions, 2 mA for 20 min;
anode over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) was followed by computerised tasks (CTs) specifically chosen to engage the most impaired cognitive
processes in the patient (tDCS+CT condition). In the second cycle, which
was structured as the first, CTs were administered after placebo stimulation
(sham+CT condition). Effects on cognitive performance were evaluated not
only by the CTs, but also by neuropsychological tests assessing global cognitive functioning. Statistical analyses revealed that whereas the tDCS+CT condition had few effects on the CTs, it induced a stability of the patient’s global
cognitive functioning lasting approximately 3 months, which was not achieved
when the patient underwent sham+CT condition. Therefore, the synergetic use
of tDCS and CTs appeared to slow down the cognitive decline of our patient.
Correspondence should be addressed to Barbara Penolazzi, Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, via Venezia, 8 - 35131 Padova, Italy. E-mail: barbara.penolazzi@
unipd.it
We thank Valentina Bruno and Roberto Micciulla for their help in data collection.
This study was supported by a grant from University of Padova, Italy, to S.M. [Progetto di
Ateneo 2012, prot.CPDA129182/12].
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