A Novel Neurorehabilitation Approach for Cognitive Aging With HIV (HtDCS)

May 12, 2017 updated by: Pariya L. Fazeli, PhD, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Speed of Processing Training With Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Older HIV+ Adults (HtDCS)

The goal of this study is to conduct a small, self-contained project to test the hypothesis that tDCS will augment SOP cognitive remediation therapy (CRT) in older HIV+ adults. The investigators will randomly assign 60 HIV+ older adults (i.e., ≥ 50 years old) to 10-hours in either a SOP CRT + sham tDCS condition (n=30) or SOP CRT + active tDCS condition (n=30) and examine neurocognitive functioning at baseline and 6 weeks post-intervention. Hypothesis 1: The SOP CRT + active tDCS condition will show larger proximal (i.e., SOP) gains than the SOP CRT + sham tDCS condition. Hypothesis 2: The active tDCS condition will demonstrate generalization to secondary neurocognitive domains compared to the sham tDCS condition.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

42

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

  • United States
    • Alabama
      • Birmingham, Alabama, United States, 35294
        • UAB 1917 Clinic

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 and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • HIV+
  • Aged 50 and older
  • Patient at University HIV/AIDS Clinic

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Not homeless
  • Not blind or deaf
  • No significant neuromedical issues (e.g., schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, stroke, epilepsy or history of seizures)
  • No pacemaker or other biomedical devices or metal implants
  • No untreated hypertension
  • Not undergoing chemo or radiation
  • No head injury with LOC greater than 30 mins

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: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Sham tDCS + Cognitive Remediation
Subjects in the sham arm will be administered sham transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) (i.e., tDCS will be administered for 30 seconds and then will automatically turn off). Sham group will have identical intervention of engagement in 10 1-hour computerized cognitive remediation therapy sessions during sham tDCS as with the active tDCS condition.
Device: transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)
tDCS is a low level electrical stimulation that will be applied to F10. The sham group will receive 2 mA (milliamps) for 30 seconds, while the experimental group will receive 2 mA for 20 minutes. Both groups will have 10, 1 hour sessions of playing cognitive remediation games, while receiving the respective level of tDCS for sham vs experimental conditions.
Other Names:
  • transcranial electrical stimulation (tES)
Experimental: Active tDCS + Cognitive Remediation
Subjects in the active arm will be administered active transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) (i.e., 2.0 mA tDCS will be administered for 20 minutes and then will automatically turn off). Active group will have identical intervention engagement in 10 1-hour computerized cognitive remediation therapy sessions during active tDCS as with the sham tDCS condition.
Device: transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)
tDCS is a low level electrical stimulation that will be applied to F10. The sham group will receive 2 mA (milliamps) for 30 seconds, while the experimental group will receive 2 mA for 20 minutes. Both groups will have 10, 1 hour sessions of playing cognitive remediation games, while receiving the respective level of tDCS for sham vs experimental conditions.
Other Names:
  • transcranial electrical stimulation (tES)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in the Processing of Speed
Time Frame: baseline, 6 week posttest
Computerized and paper & pencil processing speed measures were used to evaluate this outcome. The Letter and Pattern Comparison Tasks are traditional paper and pencil (SOP) measures. Specifically, they assess perceptual speed. In Letter Comparison subjects are shown three sets of 32 pairs of letters containing 3, 6, or 9 segments. The participants are instructed to decide whether the patterns between the pairs are the same or different within each set, with a time limit of 20 sec per set. Pattern Comparison also presents three sets of 32 pairs of patterns with 3, 6, or 9 line segments. Similarly, participants are instructed to decide whether the patterns are the same or different within the 20 sec time limit. For each measure, the total score is the number of correct answers from all three sets. Larger scores indicate better reasoning and cognitive functioning. In this study scores from Letter and Pattern Comparison were combined for a total Letter/Pattern Score.
baseline, 6 week posttest

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Driving Simulator Performance
Time Frame: baseline, 6 week posttest
Driving Simulator Performance: Center lane crossings (a count of how many times an individual crosses the centerline during the entire simulator drive). A difference score was taken between time 2 and time 1 and compared between treatment groups (sham condition and tDCS condition). A negative difference score indicates that fewer center line crossings were made at time 2 than time 1, while positive difference scores indicate the opposite direction, and scores of 0 represent no change.
baseline, 6 week posttest

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Alabama at Birmingham

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Pariya L Fazeli, PhD, University of Alabama at Birmingham

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

March 1, 2015

Primary Completion (Actual)

January 1, 2016

Study Completion (Actual)

January 1, 2016

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 5, 2015

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 12, 2015

First Posted (Estimate)

March 18, 2015

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 15, 2017

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 12, 2017

Last Verified

May 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • K99AG048762 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

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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