The effect of transcranial direct current stimulation on bilateral asymmetry and joint angles of the lower limb for females when crossing obstacles

Background Gait asymmetry is often accompanied by the bilateral asymmetry of the lower limbs. The transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) technique is widely used in different populations and scenarios as a potential tool to improve lower limb postural control. However, whether cerebral cortex bilateral tDCS has an interventional effect on postural control as well as bilateral symmetry when crossing obstacles in healthy female remains unknown. Methods Twenty healthy females were recruited in this prospective study. Each participant walked and crossed a height-adjustable obstacle. Two-way repeated ANOVA was used to evaluate the effect of group (tDCS and sham-tDCS) and height (30%, 20%, and 10% leg length) on the spatiotemporal and maximum joint angle parameters for lower limb crossing obstacles. The Bonferroni post-hoc test and paired t-test were used to determine the significance of the interaction effect or main effect. The statistically significant differences were set at p < 0.05. Results The Swing time (SW) gait asymmetry (GA), Stance time (ST) GA, leading limb hip-knee-ankle maximum joint angles and trailing limb hip-knee maximum joint angles decreased in the tDCS condition compared to the sham-tDCS condition at 30%, 20% leg’s length crossing height except for 10% leg’s length, whereas there was a significant decrease in SW/ST GA between the tDCS condition and the sham-tDCS condition at 30%, 20%, 10% leg’s length crossing height (P < 0.05). Conclusion We conclude that tDCS intervention is effective to reduce bilateral asymmetry in spatio-temporal parameters and enhance dynamic balance in female participants during obstacle crossing when the heights of the obstacles were above 10% of the leg’s length. Trial registration No ChiCTR2100053942 (date of registration on December 04, 2021). Prospectively registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry.