Can electric brain stimulation help with Friedreich’s Ataxia?

A non-invasive technique hopes to alleviate symptoms for those living with this degenerative disease

 March 23, 2026 || by Sophie Lorenzo

Did you know that your brain is constantly generating electricity? You can’t charge your cellphone with it, but electrical impulses are crucial for your brain to function, allowing your neurons to communicate with each other. Stranger still, because a magnetic field is created whenever an electric charge is in motion, the synchronized firing of large numbers of neurons in your brain produces measurable magnetic fields that can be detected outside of your head.

Thanks to this intersection of physics and biology, brain stimulation is being investigated for a number of movement disorders including in a new clinical trial at The Neuro (Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital), which is studying whether this approach could provide temporary symptom relief for individuals with Friedreich’s Ataxia.

Faulty circuits

Friedreich’s Ataxia (FA) is characterized by the progressive degeneration of nerve fibers; this leads to a reduction in the transmission of nerve impulses and, as a result, a decline in electrical activity in neurons, particularly within the pathways that are responsible for feeling and moving.

“Friedreich’s Ataxia causes atrophy in the cerebellum, a part of the brain that is crucial for motor control and coordination. A pathway connecting the cerebellum with the cerebral cortex is particularly affected and its impairment may play a crucial role in causing FA symptoms. The study hopes to relieve some ataxia symptoms for patients while also confirming whether this pathway is involved in the development of Friedreich’s Ataxia,” explains Massimo Pandolfo, MD, medical director of the Clinical Research Unit at The Neuro (Neuro CRU), an international expert on FA and the principal investigator for a new study at The Neuro.

Turning the current on

The Neuro will be the only Canadian site for this international clinical trial that will look at how the functional architecture of the brain is altered in Friedreich’s Ataxia, and to what extent it could be corrected using transcranial deep brain stimulation (tDCS), a non-invasive technique that sends a weak electrical current to electrodes on the scalp. This current excites neurons in the cerebellum, particularly the part (the dentate nucleus) that is crucial for coordinating movement, balance, and posture.

“The electrical current will be transmitted from the surface of the skull to the deeper structures of the brain, activating neurons in the cerebellum and making them discharge electrically. We believe that this could allow us to temporarily reestablish defective connections within the brain. The hope is that this  could alleviate symptoms for several days, offering patients some relief,” continues Pandolfo.

The trial is supported by published data from a pilot study in Europe which tested the same intervention and showed improvements in balance, speech and dexterity on the standardized Scale for the Assessment and Rating of Ataxia (SARA). The current study is a collaboration with the European researchers responsible for the pilot investigation.

Finding answers

For patients, advances in understanding the disease are important but they must lead to solutions.

Nick* is a highly educated professional who had a promising career when he was diagnosed with FA in his early 20s. He eventually found that he had to step back from his profession to take care of his health. Over a year ago, he took part in an observational study on FA at The Neuro.

“There are still many question marks regarding this disease, and we need to better understand our condition to be able to develop treatments. I definitely think studies like these benefit the community,” he explains.

 Seeing changes in real time

The new study will include a brief 15-minute MRI to map each individual’s brain to be able to precisely direct the electric stimulation to the right areas. Participants will also complete a magnetoencephalography (MEG) scan, along with clinical assessments to measure over time whether tDCS is improving their symptoms.

“The MEG is like one of those standing hair dryers from a beauty salon – only much bigger. It is not even in contact with your head. The process is painless and non-invasive. It has a large of numbers of sensors that record the magnetic field that is generated by the electrical impulses in your brain. So it provides a high-resolution map of brain activity, and shows changes in real time,” explains Pandolfo.

Pandolfo’s co-investigator is Sylvain Baillet, PhD, a leading researcher in brain imaging and multimodal electrophysiology and Director of the Research Centre at the Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CRCHUM). He will evaluate the characteristic changes in brain networks that are like the fingerprint of FA and which allow scientists to differentiate the results of the electrical stimulation in individuals with FA from those in the healthy participants, who will act as a control group.

His work will also be important to evaluate whether the positive effects from tDCS are related to changes in functional connectivity between the cerebellum and the rest of the brain.

An urgent need

For patients, there is a real urgency to this research. Nick is hopeful that studies like this will lead to better options. For the past decade, he has focussed on getting the most out of complementary therapies while waiting for the Quebec health authority to reimburse the first medication approved by Health Canada for FA, Skyclarys.

“FA is a fatal condition. Typical life expectancy is 35 to 40 years old — and I am in my late 30s. The new medication is not a cure, but it’s a step in the right direction. We need to compound the effects of multiple emerging treatments and therapies to build a protocol that truly works for FA,” he emphasizes.

Among those potential modes of treatment, electrical brain stimulation could be a rapidly accessible option — if the study is promising.

“The advantage of using an existing form of therapy is that, if it works, patients can have access to it quickly. Any participants in the trial who are found to benefit from tDCS will be able to continue treatment at the Neuro CRU,” concludes Pandolfo.

*Name changed to protect patient privacy.