Objective
Chronic motor disability, present in two thirds of stroke survivors pose tremendous personal and social burden. There is no universally accepted treatment for motor disability resulting from stroke. Recent studies demonstrated that rehabilitative training can improve motor function and relearning after stroke. However, these approaches lead only to partial amelioration.
It is crucial to develop novel strategies to enhance functional recovery after stroke. It has been proposed that cortical stimulation can enhance brain plasticity. New understanding of mechanisms of plasticity led to the preliminary finding that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a form of non-invasive cortical stimulation, can safely enhance motor performance of the paretic hand in patients with chronic subcortical stroke.
These findings suggest that tDCS, in association with motor training and through Hebbian principles, could enhance recovery processes. The two main hypotheses of this proposal are
- that tDCS can improve performance/learning of a finger motor sequence by the paretic hand after both subcortical and cortical stroke relative to sham; and
- that the mechanisms and neural substrates underlying this effect will include reorganisation within ipsilesional primary motor and premotor cortices.
During the outgoing phase, anodal tDCS and sham will be applied in chronic stroke patients over the motor cortex, in synchrony with motor training consisting of performance of finger motor sequences in a double blind, sham control led experimental design.
Endpoint measures of the study will be
- performance of newly learned motor sequences,
- reorganisational changes in motor and premotor cortices identified by functional magnetic resonance imaging and transcranial magnetic stimulation associated with the sequence learning processes.
During the return phase, tDCS will be applied
- to patients in the subacute stroke stage and
- during rehabilitation training.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine physiotherapy
- medical and health sciences basic medicine neurology stroke
- engineering and technology medical engineering diagnostic imaging magnetic resonance imaging
You need to log in or register to use this function
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
FP6-2004-MOBILITY-6
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
OIF - Marie Curie actions-Outgoing International Fellowships
Coordinator
Belgium
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.