Transcranial Electrical Stimulation: Therapeutic Potential and Application Barriers in People with Spinal Cord Injury

Wednesday, October 29, 2025

8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

Location: ROOM: Astoria Room >>> DIRECTIONS: Third Floor >>> From the Main Elevator Bank, proceed left toward the Williford and Waldorf Rooms. Astoria is located beyond the Waldorf along the south corridor.

Corresponding Presenter(s)

Jennifer A. Iddings, PhD (she/her/hers)

Research Scientist
Shepherd Center
Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Slides Slides

Presenter(s)

Anastasia Zarkou, PT, MS, PhD (she/her/hers)

Research Scientist
Shepherd Center
Atlanta, GA, United States

Spinal cord injury (SCI) disrupts neural connectivity, impacting motor function through reduced cortical excitability. Transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) offers a promising neuromodulation approach to address these challenges. With its clinical accessibility and adaptability across rehabilitation settings, tES demonstrates potential for functional restoration in individuals with SCI.

Our symposium will examine tES as a neurorehabilitation strategy. We will present research investigating three tES modalities for SCI recovery, critically discuss

Learning Objectives:

Explain research evidence supporting the use of different transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) modalities as a neurorehabilitation tool for persons with spinal cord injury (SCI).
Describe methodological challenges encountered in tES research within the neurorehabilitation field.
Outline questions that must be addressed for successful translation of tES from experimental protocol to standardized clinical intervention.
Discuss the clinical implications of integrating tES with neurorehabilitation training in SCI.