ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sports Act. Living
Sec. Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation
Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fspor.2025.1618683
This article is part of the Research TopicLateral Ankle Sprain, Chronic Ankle Instability and Ankle Osteoarthritis: Unraveling Mechanisms and Exploring Management ApproachesView all 6 articles
Effects of HD-tDCS Combined with Bosu Ball Training on Static and Dynamic Postural Stability among Individuals with Chronic Ankle Instability
Provisionally accepted
- 1School of Sport and Health, Shandong Sport University, Jinan, Shandong Province, China
- 2Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Center (UKMMC), Cheras, Malaysia
- 3Beijing Sport University, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
- 4South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
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Purpose: Chronic ankle instability (CAI) is characterized by a combination of peripheral dysfunction and maladaptive neuroplasticity in central nervous system, leading to persistent postural stability deficits. This study aims to investigate the effects of high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS) combined with Bosu ball training (BBT) on the static and dynamic postural stability in individuals with CAI. Methods: A total of forty participants were randomized to receive either HD-tDCS + BBT (n=20) or BBT (n=20) interventions, delivered over six weeks with three 20-minute sessions per week. Static and dynamic postural stability was assessed pre-and post-intervention via to 删除[Yubin Ge]: neuroplastic 删除[Yubin Ge]: single-leg stance and drop landing tests, with kinetic data captured by a force platform (1000 Hz). Data were analyzed using two-way mixed-design ANOVA. Results: Significant group-by-time interactions were detected in the center of pressure-root mean square (CoP_RMS) during single-leg stance (p = 0.036, η²ₚ = 0.134) and the time to stabilization (TTS) during drop landing (p = 0.007, η²ₚ = 0.209) in the mediolateral (ML) direction. Post hoc comparisons showed that the both of them were decreased after intervention, and greater decreases were observed by the intervention of HD-tDCS + BBT compared to BBT. And, a significant time main effect was observed in the CoP_RMS (p < 0.001, η²ₚ = 0.382) and the TTS (p = 0.005, η²ₚ = 0.224) in the anteroposterior direction, they both decreased after HD-tDCS + BBT and BBT interventions. Conclusions: Both BBT alone and the combined HD-tDCS + BBT interventions enhanced static and dynamic postural stability in individuals with CAI, while the combined HD-tDCS + BBT intervention demonstrated significantly greater efficacy in improving postural stability in the ML direction compared to BBT alone.
Keywords: Ankle sprains, neuromuscular control, non-invasive brain stimulation, Postural control, Unstable surface training
Received: 26 Apr 2025; Accepted: 28 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Ge, Gao, Huang, Luo, Liu, Wang, Shen, Guo and Song. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Qipeng Song, School of Sport and Health, Shandong Sport University, Jinan, Shandong Province, China
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