Estimulação transcraniana por corrente contínua no transtorno do espectro autista - uma revisão sistemática

Abstract

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that manifests with deficits in communication, social interaction, stereotyped and repetitive behaviors, with no treatment available yet. Thus, transcranial direct current electrical stimulation (tDCS) is a tool with potential for joint therapy for a variety of neurological, psychiatric and movement disorders, and may influence the control of characteristic clinical conditions of autism. Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of tDCS in the treatment of children with ASD. Methods: This is a systematic literature review, carried out by means of a detailed search in databases such as PubMed, SciELO, PEDro, Lilacs, in addition to a manual search in the reference list of the retrieved studies. Studies were included in English, Portuguese or Spanish published from the year 2010, which analyzed the efficacy of tCDS in ASD in younger children under the age of 14 years old. Results: Were found a total of 53 studies, of which only 7 were included, and it was found that children with ASD treated with tCDS showed improvement in several clinical domains, such as behavior, social interaction, motor planning, among others. Conclusion: Thus, it is observed that the tCDS is a safe and effective intervention to improve the clinical manifestations of children with ASD, especially the behavioral, motor and cognitive aspects, and can also be considered as a promising tool for the treatment of ASD.