Older adults frequently experience a decrease in balance control that leads to
increased numbers of falls, injuries and hospitalization. Therefore,
evaluating older adults’ ability to maintain balance and examining new
approaches to counteract age-related decline in balance control is of great
importance for fall prevention and healthy aging. Non-invasive brain
stimulation techniques such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)
have been shown to beneficially influence motor behavior and motor learning.
In the present study, we investigated the influence of tDCS applied over the
leg area of the primary motor cortex (M1) on balance task learning of healthy
elderly in a dynamic balance task (DBT). In total, 30 older adults were
enrolled in a cross-sectional, randomized design including two consecutive DBT
training sessions. Only during the first DBT session, either 20 min of anodal
tDCS (a-tDCS) or sham tDCS (s-tDCS) were applied and learning improvement was
compared between the two groups. Our data showed that both groups successfully
learned to perform the DBT on both training sessions. Interestingly, between-
group analyses revealed no difference between the a-tDCS and the s-tDCS group
regarding their level of task learning. These results indicate that the
concurrent application of tDCS over M1 leg area did not elicit DBT learning
enhancement in our study cohort. However, a regression analysis revealed that
DBT performance can be predicted by the kinematic profile of the movement, a
finding that may provide new insights for individualized approaches of
treating balance and gait disorders