The Effects of Consecutive Supervised Functional Lumbar Stabilizing Exercises on the Postural Balance and Functional Disability in Low Back Pain

Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine the effects of consecutively supervised core stability training on postural control and functional disability in female patients with non-specific chronic low back pain. Methods: Twenty nine female participants with non-specific chronic low back pain participated in the study. They were randomly divided into two groups: experimental group (10 days consecutively core stability exercises under physical therapist’s supervision) and control group (without intervention). Before and after the intervention, stability situations, pain intensity and functional disability were assessed with Biodex, visual Analogue Scale, Oswestry and Quebec questionnaire scales respectively. Data were analyzed by using statistical methods, independent T test and ANCOVA. Results: The study results indicated no statistically significant differences in all variables except age between two groups before intervention. Analysis by ANCOVA showed a significant difference in disability, pain intensity, Overall Stability Index with Double Leg Eyes Closed, Anterior-Posterior Stability Index with Double Leg Eyes Closed and Medio-Lateral Stability Index with Double Leg Eyes Closed scores between two groups after intervention. However, other variable differences were not significant while these changes were greater in the intervention group. Discussion: The present study indicates that consecutively supervised core stability training is an effective approach in pain relief and improving postural control in female patients with non-specific chronic low back pain

The effects of unihemispheric concurrent dual-site transcranial direct current stimulation on motor sequence learning in healthy individuals:A randomized, clinical trial

Background: Unihemispheric concurrent dual-site anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (a-tDCSUHCDS) of primary motor cortex (M1) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) are introduced as effective techniques on M1 corticospinal excitability enhancement and its after-effects. Objectives: The current study aimed at investigating the potential effects of multiple sessions of a-tDCSUHCDS of M1-DLPFC on motor skills learning in healthy individuals. Methods: The randomized, clinical trial was conducted on a total of 37 volunteers completed all sessions of the study and were randomly divided into two groups of a-tDCSUHCDS and sham stimulation by the block randomization method. The current study was performed from January to May 2017 in Iran. Participants attended daily 20-minute motor training sessions for three consecutive days, while they concurrently received a-tDCS. Motor skills were assessed before the intervention (day 1), immediately after the intervention (day 3), and one week after the completion of the intervention. Results: A total of 37 participants were included in the data analysis. Immediately after the completion of the intervention on day 3, mean skills in the experimental and control groups were 0.33 and 0.30, respectively. One week after the completion of the intervention, mean skills in the experimental and control groups were 0.36 and 0.29, respectively. The trend of motor learning considerably increased in the experimental (0.17 P < 0.001) and control (0.11 P < 0.001) groups. No significant difference was observed in motor learning immediately after the intervention between the groups (P = 0.23), while there was a significant difference in long-term offline learning between the groups (P = 0.04). Conclusions: Greater motor skills in the a-tDCSUHCDS group compared with the sham tDCS group at one week retention indicated the robustness of the a-tDCSUHCDS effect

Differential Effects of Unihemispheric Concurrent Dual-Site and Conventional tDCS on Motor Learning: A Randomized, Sham-Controlled Study

Introduction: Based on the literature, unihemispheric concurrent dual-site anodal transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (a-tDCSUHCDS) of primary Motor cortex (M1) and Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (DLPFC) would be more efficient than conventional a-tDCS of M1 to induce larger and longer-lasting M1 corticospinal excitability. The main objective of the present study was to compare the effects of a-tDCSUHCDS and conventional M1 a-tDCS on the extent and durability of the motor sequence acquisition in healthy individuals. Methods: In this randomized sham-controlled study, healthy volunteers were randomly divided into three groups: experimental (a-tDCSUHCDS), control (M1 a-tDCS), and sham stimulation groups. The participants practiced serial response time task over three consecutive days when they simultaneously received a-tDCS. Using the skill measure, we assessed motor learning up to 4 weeks after the completion of experimental conditions.  Results: Data analysis revealed that all groups exhibited the improved trend over the training course (P0.05), while a significant improvement was observed between experimental and sham group at the retention time (P0.05).  Conclusion: These results revealed a significant increase in the skill acquisition by a-tDCSUHCDS technique with regard to retention issue, which could be a valuable finding in neuro-rehabilitation field