Brain Stimulation With Combined Reading and Motor Training for Children With Dyslexia

August 21, 2026 updated by: Mohammad Amin Javedanfar, Shahid Beheshti University

Effectiveness of Dual-Site tDCS Combined With Integrated Phonological and Fine Motor Intervention in 9-Year-Old Boys With Developmental Dyslexia: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Sham-Controlled Trial

This study examines whether combining non-invasive brain stimulation (tDCS) with an integrated reading-and-motor training program improves reading and phonological processing in 9-year-old boys with developmental dyslexia.

Children with dyslexia often have difficulties in phonological awareness and fine motor skills. This study targets two brain areas at the same time: the left temporoparietal junction (important for reading and phonological processing) and the left primary motor cortex (important for hand movements and speech-related motor processes).

Participants will be randomly assigned to one of eight groups. Some groups will receive active brain stimulation, and some will receive sham (inactive) stimulation, while also participating in different types of training: phonological awareness training, fine motor training, combined phonological and fine motor training, or no training. The treatment includes 20 sessions, three times per week for about 7 weeks.

Reading and phonological skills will be measured before treatment, immediately after treatment, and again 3 months and 6 months later. The study will help determine whether a full treatment package-using brain stimulation together with combined reading and motor training-is more effective than single treatments or usual school education.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Not yet recruiting

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.

Detailed Description

This is a randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled, 8-group component trial in 9-year-old boys with developmental dyslexia. The study tests a theory-driven prediction derived from multiple-deficit models of dyslexia: that simultaneously targeting reading-related and sensory-motor brain networks, while delivering an integrated phonological and fine motor intervention, produces greater and more durable reading improvement than single-component interventions.

The tDCS protocol uses 1 mA current for 20 minutes per session over 20 sessions (3 sessions/week). Electrode montages are yoked to the type of cognitive intervention: left temporoparietal (TPJ) for phonological training, left primary motor cortex (M1) for motor training, and dual-site TPJ+M1 for the combined intervention. A tDCS-only group (M1 montage) is included to isolate the effect of motor cortex stimulation.

Primary outcome: change in the composite score of Factor 1 of the Reading and Dyslexia Test (word reading, phoneme deletion, nonword reading, and word comprehension). Secondary outcomes: fine motor performance (BOT-2), rapid automatized naming, and text reading fluency.

Assessments occur at baseline, immediately after the intervention, and at 3- and 6-month follow-ups.

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 (Estimated)

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.
160

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 Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Locations

  • Iran
    • Isfahan
      • Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran, 8155113853
        • Consultation, Psychological, Research and Specialized Services Center of Isfahan Province General Department of Education
        • Contact:
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Mohammad Amin Javedanfar, MSc

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

  • Child

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Male children aged 9 years (9 years 0 months to 9 years 11 months) with developmental dyslexia diagnosed according to DSM-5 criteria by a clinical team.
  • Reading and Dyslexia Test (NAMA) T score ≤ 30 (at least 2 standard deviations below the mean).
  • Full Scale IQ ≥ 85 on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fifth Edition (WISC-V).
  • Score below 88 on the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale (SCAS).
  • Fine motor deficits defined as standard score ≤ 40 on Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, Second Edition (BOT-2) manual dexterity and upper-limb coordination subtests.
  • Normal or corrected-to-normal vision and hearing.
  • No history of seizure or epilepsy, no scalp skin disease, no cochlear implant, cardiac pacemaker, or metal implants in the skull.
  • Written informed consent from parents or legal guardian and verbal assent from the child.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Intellectual disability (Full Scale IQ < 85).
  • Personal history of epilepsy or seizure disorder, or epilepsy in a first-degree relative.
  • Presence of cochlear implant, cardiac pacemaker, or metal implants in the skull.
  • Skin diseases or open lesions on the scalp at electrode sites.
  • Uncorrected visual or hearing impairments.
  • Other primary psychiatric or neurodevelopmental disorders requiring ongoing treatment (e.g., ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, severe anxiety disorder).

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: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

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: Control (Sham + Usual School)
Sham tDCS randomly selected montage + usual school education, no cognitive training
Device: Sham transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)
Sham tDCS will use the same electrode positions as the active groups, but the current will be applied for only 30 seconds and then gradually ramped down.
Other Names:
  • Sham tDCS
Other: Usual school education
Participants receive the standard school curriculum without additional cognitive or motor training.
Sham Comparator: Sham-PA
Sham tDCS TPJ + phonological awareness training
Device: Sham transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)
Sham tDCS will use the same electrode positions as the active groups, but the current will be applied for only 30 seconds and then gradually ramped down.
Other Names:
  • Sham tDCS
Behavioral: Phonological awareness training
20 sessions of 60 minutes each, three times per week for about 7 weeks. Covers syllable segmentation, rhyme, phoneme blending and segmentation, initial and final phoneme identification, phoneme manipulation, and grapheme-to-phoneme mapping.
Other Names:
  • PA training
Sham Comparator: Sham-Motor
Sham tDCS M1 + non-targeted fine motor training
Device: Sham transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)
Sham tDCS will use the same electrode positions as the active groups, but the current will be applied for only 30 seconds and then gradually ramped down.
Other Names:
  • Sham tDCS
Behavioral: Non-targeted fine motor training
20 sessions of 60 minutes each, three times per week for about 7 weeks. Includes activities without linguistic content, such as free play with dough, bead threading, pegboard tasks, and other manual dexterity exercises.
Other Names:
  • Fine motor training
Sham Comparator: Sham-Comb
Sham dual-channel TPJ+M1 + combined phonological and fine motor intervention
Device: Sham transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)
Sham tDCS will use the same electrode positions as the active groups, but the current will be applied for only 30 seconds and then gradually ramped down.
Other Names:
  • Sham tDCS
Behavioral: Integrated phonological and fine motor intervention
20 sessions of 60 minutes each, three times per week for about 7 weeks. Combines phonological awareness training with targeted fine motor activities linked to reading, such as forming letters with dough and stringing beads marked with phonemes.
Other Names:
  • Combined intervention
Experimental: Active-PA
Active tDCS TPJ + phonological awareness training
Behavioral: Phonological awareness training
20 sessions of 60 minutes each, three times per week for about 7 weeks. Covers syllable segmentation, rhyme, phoneme blending and segmentation, initial and final phoneme identification, phoneme manipulation, and grapheme-to-phoneme mapping.
Other Names:
  • PA training
Device: Active transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)
Active tDCS will be delivered at 1 milliampere for 20 minutes per session, 20 sessions over about 7 weeks. The montage varies by arm: left temporoparietal (TPJ) montage, left primary motor cortex (M1) montage, or dual-site TPJ+M1 montage.
Other Names:
  • tDCS
Experimental: Active-Motor
Active tDCS M1 + non-targeted fine motor training
Behavioral: Non-targeted fine motor training
20 sessions of 60 minutes each, three times per week for about 7 weeks. Includes activities without linguistic content, such as free play with dough, bead threading, pegboard tasks, and other manual dexterity exercises.
Other Names:
  • Fine motor training
Device: Active transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)
Active tDCS will be delivered at 1 milliampere for 20 minutes per session, 20 sessions over about 7 weeks. The montage varies by arm: left temporoparietal (TPJ) montage, left primary motor cortex (M1) montage, or dual-site TPJ+M1 montage.
Other Names:
  • tDCS
Experimental: Active-Comb
Active dual-site TPJ+M1 + combined phonological and fine motor intervention
Behavioral: Integrated phonological and fine motor intervention
20 sessions of 60 minutes each, three times per week for about 7 weeks. Combines phonological awareness training with targeted fine motor activities linked to reading, such as forming letters with dough and stringing beads marked with phonemes.
Other Names:
  • Combined intervention
Device: Active transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)
Active tDCS will be delivered at 1 milliampere for 20 minutes per session, 20 sessions over about 7 weeks. The montage varies by arm: left temporoparietal (TPJ) montage, left primary motor cortex (M1) montage, or dual-site TPJ+M1 montage.
Other Names:
  • tDCS
Experimental: Active-Only
Active tDCS M1 alone, no cognitive intervention
Device: Active transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)
Active tDCS will be delivered at 1 milliampere for 20 minutes per session, 20 sessions over about 7 weeks. The montage varies by arm: left temporoparietal (TPJ) montage, left primary motor cortex (M1) montage, or dual-site TPJ+M1 montage.
Other Names:
  • tDCS

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
Composite score of Factor 1 of the Reading and Dyslexia Test (NAMA)
Time Frame: Before intervention, immediately after the end of intervention, 3 months after intervention, and 6 months after intervention.
Composite score of Factor 1 of the Reading and Dyslexia Test, which includes word reading, phoneme deletion, nonword reading, and word comprehension subtests.
Before intervention, immediately after the end of intervention, 3 months after intervention, and 6 months after intervention.

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
Fine motor performance (BOT-2 manual dexterity and upper-limb coordination)
Time Frame: Before intervention, immediately after the end of intervention, 3 months after intervention, and 6 months after intervention.
Fine motor performance as measured by the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, Second Edition, manual dexterity and upper-limb coordination subtests. Raw scores of the common items will be used for longitudinal comparison.
Before intervention, immediately after the end of intervention, 3 months after intervention, and 6 months after intervention.
Rapid automatized naming speed
Time Frame: Before intervention, immediately after the end of intervention, 3 months after intervention, and 6 months after intervention.
Rapid automatized naming speed, including naming of objects, colors, numbers, and letters. The total time in seconds to name each card is recorded.
Before intervention, immediately after the end of intervention, 3 months after intervention, and 6 months after intervention.
Text reading fluency (correct words per minute)
Time Frame: Before intervention, immediately after the end of intervention, 3 months after intervention, and 6 months after intervention.
Text reading fluency defined as the number of correct words read per minute on a grade-level reading passage. Correct words per minute will be calculated as the total number of words minus errors, multiplied by 60, divided by the total reading time in seconds.
Before intervention, immediately after the end of intervention, 3 months after intervention, and 6 months after intervention.

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.
Shahid Beheshti University

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.
  • Study Chair: Shahriar Gharibzadeh, Ph.D., Institute for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University

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.

Helpful Links

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 (Estimated)

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.
August 23, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

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.
July 6, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

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.
August 1, 2027

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).
August 20, 2026

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.
August 20, 2026

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.
August 24, 2026

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.
August 25, 2026

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.
August 21, 2026

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.
August 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

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.
  • SBU-tDCS-Dyslexia-001
  • IRCT20260817070696N1 (Registry Identifier: Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Individual participant data will not be shared due to confidentiality and ethical considerations related to minor participants. Sharing of participant-level data was not included in the informed consent or the study ethics approval. Only aggregate, deidentified results will be reported.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

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.

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