Non-invasive brain stimulation for improving gait, balance, and lower limbs motor function in stroke

Objectives: This systematic review and meta-analysis aim to summarize and analyze the available evidence of non-invasive brain stimulation/spinal cord stimulation on gait, balance and/or lower limb motor recovery in stroke patients.

Methods: The PubMed database was searched from its inception through to 31/03/2021 for randomized controlled trials investigating repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation or transcranial/trans-spinal direct current/alternating current stimulation for improving gait, balance and/or lower limb motor function in stroke patients.

Results: Overall, 25 appropriate studies (including 657 stroke subjects) were found. The data indicates that non-invasive brain stimulation/spinal cord stimulation is effective in supporting recovery. However, the effects are inhomogeneous across studies: (1) transcranial/trans-spinal direct current/alternating current stimulation induce greater effects than repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, and (2) bilateral application of non-invasive brain stimulation is superior to unilateral stimulation.

Conclusions: The current evidence encourages further research and suggests that more individualized approaches are necessary for increasing effect sizes in stroke patients.