A novel promising therapeutic approach for patients with ataxic disorders?

Neurodegenerative ataxic disorders in humans can be devastating conditions due to the lack of disease-modifying therapies or effective symptomatic treatments, although several therapeutic modalities have proved effective in animal models.1 Neurodegenerative ataxic disorders include sporadic conditions such as multiple system atrophy and inherited diseases such as autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxias, autosomal recessive cerebellar ataxias, hereditary spinocerebellar ataxias (SCAs), and mitochondria-associated cerebellar ataxias. Transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS), a noninvasive neuromodulatory technique, delivers a low-voltage electric current to the scalp that allows reversible modulation of activity in targeted brain regions. Application of tDCS has proved safe and helpful in several neurologic and nonneurologic conditions such as poststroke dysphagia,2 chronic pain,3 and depression.4