Blindness, Acquired clinical trials

Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation With Proprioceptive Training in Blind People

Postural control requires the integration of the vestibular, visual, and somatosensory systems. Vision, in particular, exerts a considerable influence on body sway during activities that require balance. The investigators aimed to analyze the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) combined with proprioceptive exercises on postural control in individuals between 18 and 55 years old, with congenital and acquired blindness. The intervention will occur in three phases: 1 - Determine differences in postural control and gait between individuals with congenital and acquired blindness with and without the use of a guide stick when wearing shoes and when barefoot; 2 - Will be a pilot study containing 10 subjects in each group (total of 40) where a sample size estimation will be analyzed based on a gait and balance parameters result from a ten consecutive days treatment protocol consisting of tDCS plus proprioceptive; 3 - A treatment protocol will be conducted in which the participants will be allocated to four groups: G1 - active tDCS + dynamic proprioceptive exercises; G2 - sham tDCS + dynamic proprioceptive exercises; G3 - active tDCS + static proprioceptive exercises; and G4 - sham tDCS + static proprioceptive exercises. Evaluations will involve a camera system for three-dimensional gait analysis, a force plate to measure the postural control, and electromyography to analyze the muscle activities. Dynamic stability will be determined using the Timed Up and Go test and static stability will be analyzed with the aid of the force plate. The viability of this study will allow the determination of differences in postural control between individuals with congenital and acquired blindness, the analysis of the effect of tDCS on postural control, and the establishment of a rehabilitation protocol.