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Assessment of Structural Connectivity and Brain Volumes after tDCS in Stroke: A Machine-learning Method
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  • Mohsen Dadashi,
  • Ahmadreza Zakerian Zadeh,
  • Omid Reza Heidari,
  • Mohammad Soltani,
  • Mohammad Bayat,
  • Mehdi Maghbooli
Mohsen Dadashi
Zanjan University of Medical Sciences
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Ahmadreza Zakerian Zadeh
Zanjan University of Medical Sciences
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Omid Reza Heidari
Islamic Azad University
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Mohammad Soltani
Zanjan University of Medical Sciences
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Mohammad Bayat
Zanjan University of Medical Sciences
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Mehdi Maghbooli
Zanjan University of Medical Sciences

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Abstract

Background: Stroke causes numerous symptoms, including impaired motor skills, sensation languages, and cognitive functions. Previous studies revealed non-invasive brain stimulation techniques could enhance sensory, cognitive, and motor function. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of transcranial direct current stimulation on functional communication, motor learning, and cognitive function in patients with ischemic stroke. Methods and Materials: The research method of this study was quasi-experimental with pre-test and post-test designs with three groups. Twenty-four patients were enrolled at the beginning. After written consent before the intervention, the Fugl-Meyer Assessment, Montreal Cognitive Assessment Test, and Mini-Mental State Exam were performed at three different time points. Furthermore, functional and structural neuroimaging (DTI, fMRI) were exploited before and after the intervention. Regarding the intervention process, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) was used for twelve 30-minute daily sessions for the patients. Data were analyzed via in-house MATLAB-SPM12, FSL, and scikit-learn. Results: The figures for the FMA test of the active group increased after the intervention (P<0.05). Additionally, the figure for both screening tests increased after the treatment in the active group (P<0.05). Regarding the results of DTI, a significant difference was found in some regions, such as the right inferior occipital. Moreover, the best results were achieved by Random Forest, CatBoost, and XGBoost models in classifying groups by DTI data. Conclusion: Transcranial direct-current stimulation has been proven to be an effective rehabilitation for post-stroke impairments. We assessed the different structural and functional neuroimaging methods to determine which could display the effect of tDCS.
24 Aug 2023Submitted to European Journal of Neuroscience
25 Aug 2023Submission Checks Completed
25 Aug 2023Assigned to Editor
25 Aug 2023Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
14 Sep 2023Reviewer(s) Assigned