Supporting Cognitive Control Training With tDCS

September 27, 2019 updated by: Christian Plewnia, MD, University Hospital Tuebingen

Lasting Amelioration of Deficient Cognitive Control by Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS)-Enhanced Training

Cognitive control (CC) is an important prerequisite for goal-directed behaviour and often associated with dysfunctional prefrontal activity within the cortex. This can be ameliorated by non-invasive brain stimulation. In this randomised single-blind study we compare effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on CC in healthy subjects. The study includes 162 subjects who undergo a two-week (six sessions) training of cognitive control (adaptive paced auditory serial addition task, PASAT) supported by tDCS. Subjects are randomised to receive either concurrent anodal, cathodal, or sham tDCS with an intensity of 1 mA or 2 mA of their left (F3) or right (F4) PFC, resulting in eight stimulation groups. Stimulation effects on performance changes are compared to a sham control group.Changes in Affective state are measured by the positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS), possible transfer effects are assessed by the Eriksen Flanker task. Stability of effects is measured up to three months after the last intervention.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
173

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Germany
      • Tübingen, Germany, 72074
        • University of Tübingen, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 40 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Healthy subjects
  • Right-handed (assessed by Edinburgh Handedness Inventory)
  • No other concurrent brain stimulation during participation
  • Proficient in German (min. CEFR level B)
  • Ability to strictly adhere to study timeline

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Diagnosed neurological illnesses
  • Diagnosed psychiatric disorders
  • Achromatopsia
  • Metallic implants / tattoos on or near electrode sites
  • Consumption of tobacco to an equivalent of ten or more cigarettes per day
  • Prior participation in experiments involving the PASAT

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Basic Science
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Sham Comparator: Sham
Sham tDCS (ramp up and ramp down of electrical current before as well as after task performance to elicit physical sensations similar to verum tDCS)
Behavioral: Effect of tDCS on cognitive control task performance
Added verum or sham tDCS while working on a cognitive control task.
Active Comparator: L1A

Active tDCS

  • laterality: left PFC (F3; second electrode placed on deltoid muscle of the opposing arm)
  • intensity: of 1 mA
  • polarity: anodal
Behavioral: Effect of tDCS on cognitive control task performance
Added verum or sham tDCS while working on a cognitive control task.
Active Comparator: R1A

Active tDCS

  • laterality: right PFC (F4; second electrode placed on deltoid muscle of the opposing arm)
  • intensity: of 1 mA
  • polarity: anodal
Behavioral: Effect of tDCS on cognitive control task performance
Added verum or sham tDCS while working on a cognitive control task.
Active Comparator: L2A

Active tDCS

  • laterality: left PFC (F3; second electrode placed on deltoid muscle of the opposing arm)
  • intensity: of 2 mA
  • polarity: anodal
Behavioral: Effect of tDCS on cognitive control task performance
Added verum or sham tDCS while working on a cognitive control task.
Active Comparator: R2A

Active tDCS

  • laterality: right PFC (F4; second electrode placed on deltoid muscle of the opposing arm)
  • intensity: of 2 mA
  • polarity: anodal
Behavioral: Effect of tDCS on cognitive control task performance
Added verum or sham tDCS while working on a cognitive control task.
Active Comparator: L1C

Active tDCS

  • laterality: left PFC (F3; second electrode placed on deltoid muscle of the opposing arm)
  • intensity: of 1 mA
  • polarity: cathodal
Behavioral: Effect of tDCS on cognitive control task performance
Added verum or sham tDCS while working on a cognitive control task.
Active Comparator: R1C

Active tDCS

  • laterality: right PFC (F4; second electrode placed on deltoid muscle of the opposing arm)
  • intensity: of 1 mA
  • polarity: cathodal
Behavioral: Effect of tDCS on cognitive control task performance
Added verum or sham tDCS while working on a cognitive control task.
Active Comparator: L2C

Active tDCS

  • laterality: left PFC (F3; second electrode placed on deltoid muscle of the opposing arm)
  • intensity: of 2 mA
  • polarity: cathodal
Behavioral: Effect of tDCS on cognitive control task performance
Added verum or sham tDCS while working on a cognitive control task.
Active Comparator: R2C

Active tDCS

  • laterality: right PFC (F4; second electrode placed on deltoid muscle of the opposing arm)
  • intensity: of 2 mA
  • polarity: cathodal
Behavioral: Effect of tDCS on cognitive control task performance
Added verum or sham tDCS while working on a cognitive control task.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Cognitive performance
Time Frame: 2 to 14 weeks
Changes in performance in the PASAT (as assessed by number of correct trials within each PASAT session) due to the various tDCS interventions. All eight interventions will be compared to the sham group. Cognitive performance is modified by tDCS, which is applied through a multi-channel stimulator (DC-Stimulator MC, NeuroConn GmbH, Ilmenau, Germany; software version 1.3.8; two rectangular rubber electrodes (5 x 7 cm)).
2 to 14 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Affective state
Time Frame: 2 weeks
Changes in affective state over the course of the experiment (assessed by the positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS) questionnaire). Scores are calculated for negative and positive affect separately, by summing up the respective answers.
2 weeks
Transfer effect
Time Frame: 3 weeks
Transfer effects in the Eriksen Flanker task (assessed through mean reaction times). Means are calculated for congruent, incongruent, and neutral trials respectively.
3 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
University Hospital Tuebingen

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Christian Plewnia, MD, University of Tübingen, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
April 15, 2016

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
March 26, 2018

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
March 26, 2018

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
September 17, 2019

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
September 27, 2019

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
September 30, 2019

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
September 30, 2019

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
September 27, 2019

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
September 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • GCBS-WP4

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

Undecided

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Cookie Settings

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. For more details carefully read our Privacy and Cookies Policy. ...>>>You can change your preferences or withdraw your consent at any time by deleting the cookies from your website or computer as described in the policy. Please accept it and choose your preferences by ticking the corresponding boxes in the "Manage Settings" section below. Please carefully read our Terms of Service before you proceed with using any part of this website.
«Manage Settings