Effects of Brain Stimulation During Nocturnal Sleep on Memory Consolidation in Elderly Healthy Subjects

May 20, 2021 updated by: Agnes Flöel, Charite University, Berlin, Germany

Impact of Transcranial Slow Oscillating Stimulation on Memory Consolidation During Nocturnal Slow Wave Sleep in Elderly Healthy Subjects

The beneficial effect of nocturnal sleep on memory consolidation is well-documented in young, healthy subjects. Especially, periods rich in slow-wave sleep (SWS) have shown a memory enhancing effect on hippocampus-dependent declarative memory. Slow oscillatory activity typically occuring during SWS has been implicated in the consolidation effect. Recent evidence in young healthy subjects suggest that the sleep-associated consolidation effect can be amplified by the application of a weak transcranial oscillatory electric current within the frequency range of SWS in humans (0,7-0,8 Hz) during SWS. If elderly, healthy subjects benefit from transcranial slow oscillatory stimulation (tSOS) during nocturnal sleep as well has not been studied so far. The primary aim of the present study is to investigate the influence of a weak slow oscillating brain stimulation (tSOS) on declarative memory consolidation applied during periods of nocturnal SWS in elderly healthy subjects.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

32

Phase

  • 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
      • Berlin, Germany, 10117
        • Charite CCM Neurologie Berlin

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

Ages Eligible for Study

50 years to 90 years (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • elederly, healthy Subjects
  • unobtrusive, neuropsychological screening
  • age: 50-90 years
  • right handed

Exclusion Criteria:

  • untreated severe internal or psychiatric diseases
  • epilepsy
  • other severe neurological diseases eg., previous major stroke, brain tumour, dementia
  • contraindications to MRI

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: CROSSOVER
  • Masking: TRIPLE

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: 0,75 Hz stimulation
slow transcranial oscillating stimulation (~0,75Hz) during periods of Slow Wave Sleep
Device: Stimulation
Other Names:
  • oscillating direct current brain stimulation
SHAM_COMPARATOR: SHAM stimulation
SHAM stimulation during periods of Slow Wave Sleep
Device: SHAM
no stimulation

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Retention of declarative memories after 0.75 Hz stimulation during SWS, vs after sham stimulation during SWS
Time Frame: 4 weeks
Retention between stimulation conditions (0.75 Hz during SWS, vs sham stimulation during SWS) in the declarative memory task.
4 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Amount of Slow wave Sleep, spindels, eeg-correlates, further memory systems
Time Frame: 4 weeks
  1. Amount of slow wave sleep assessed by standard polysomnographic criteria in 0,75 Hz vs SHAM stimulation during SWS.
  2. Spindel activity during sleep indicated via several spindel parameters like number, duration, frequency of spindles; compared between 0,75 Hz and SHAM stimulation during SWS.
  3. Neuronal correlates (EEG-power in slow oscillation frequency bands induced by 0,75 Hz vs SHAM stimulation during SWS; EEG-correlates of encoding and retrieval of a declarative memory task).
  4. Performance in further memory systems (procedural), compared between 0,75 Hz and SHAM stimulation during SWS.
4 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Charite University, Berlin, Germany

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

January 1, 2013

Primary Completion (ACTUAL)

December 1, 2016

Study Completion (ACTUAL)

December 1, 2016

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 13, 2013

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 13, 2013

First Posted (ESTIMATE)

February 15, 2013

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ACTUAL)

May 24, 2021

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 20, 2021

Last Verified

May 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Nighttime sleep-tSOS-Old

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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