Table 1

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria	5–17 years old
	*Diagnosis of MCS or VS based on clinical evaluation by the inpatient neuropsychology team47
	Hearing test completed as part of clinical care
	Parent/guardian must be proficient in English
	Parent/guardian report that the child demonstrated proficiency in English prior to acquired brain injury
Exclusion criteria	Presence of extensive focal lesions in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex as determined by review of imaging/imaging reports obtained as part of clinical care
	Known seizures in the prior month
	Non-conclusive seizures and/or interictal epileptiform discharges observed on any study EEG
	History of craniotomy
	Presence of metallic cerebral, cochlear or electronic implant or ventricular shunt or pacemaker
	Presence of skin lesion, severe rash or open wounds
	Children with head circumference less than 43 cm
	Bilateral severe or profound hearing loss
	Presence of hairstyle interfering with tDCS application and/or high-quality EEG signal
	Females with confirmed pregnancy
	Youth on daytime mechanical ventilation
	Youth in foster care

*Children meeting criteria on the CRS-R for any of the items indicating MCS but not items indicating conscious state will be considered to be in MCS. Children not meeting criteria for MCS will be considered in VS.
CRS-R, Coma Recovery Scale-Revised; EEG, electroencephalography; MCS, minimally conscious state; VS, vegetative state; tDCS, transcranial direct current stimulation.