The Effect of Prefrontal Cortex Stimulation on Antisocial and Aggressive Behavior

August 14, 2019 updated by: University of Pennsylvania

The Effect of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation of the Prefrontal Cortex on Antisocial and Aggressive Behavior

This study investigates the effect of upregulating prefrontal cortex activity on antisocial and aggressive behavior and risk factors for such behavior. In the double-blind, randomized controlled trial, participants will undergo anodal transcranial direct current stimulation bilaterally to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex or a sham stimulation. During and after stimulation, they will complete survey and laboratory measures assessing antisocial and aggressive behavior and risk factors for antisocial and aggressive behavior. Heart rate and skin conductance will also be measured.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

84

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
    • Pennsylvania
      • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19104
        • University of Pennsylvania

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

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Above 18 years of age
  • Able to understand the nature of the study and give informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  • History of or active neurologic, cardiovascular, or psychiatric disease
  • Currently consuming anti-convulsant, anti-psychotic, or sedative/hypnotic medications
  • Currently consuming anti-depressants
  • History of seizures
  • Metallic implants on the scalp
  • Participation in other transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) or tDCS experiments on the same day
  • History of adverse reactions to tDCS

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: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Sham Comparator: Sham stimulation
The sham transcranial direct current stimulation condition will involve the same placement of the electrodes, current intensity, and ramp time as the real tDCS condition, but stimulation will only last for 30 seconds.
Device: Sham transcranial direct current stimulation
Experimental: Anodal stimulation
Participants in the active stimulation group will undergo anodal bilateral transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. tDCS will be delivered by a battery-driven, constant-current stimulator connected to three saline-soaked surface sponge electrodes. Two anodal electrodes (25cm2) will be placed over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex bilaterally and one cathodal electrode (35cm2) will be placed at the back of the neck. Scalp electrodes will be positioned over the F3 and F4 according to the 10-20 EEG international system. A current of 1mA will be applied for 20 minutes and the current will be ramped up and down at the beginning and end of the stimulation period.
Device: Transcranial direct current stimulation

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Antisocial Behavior Inclinations at 24 Hours
Time Frame: Baseline (an average of 15 minutes before receiving tDCS or sham) and on average, 24 hours following stimulation or sham
This will be assessed using hypothetical scenarios in which someone commits a criminal or antisocial act. The two brief scenarios describe a physical assault and a sexual assault. Participants will respond to the likelihood that they would commit the act in the scenario according to a 10-point Likert scale. Responses were measured on a scale ranging from zero (no chance at all) to ten (100 percent chance). Scores for both scenarios were summed to obtain an overall measure of intentions to commit aggression. Possible scores range from 0 to 20. A higher value indicates a greater inclination to engage in the antisocial act.
Baseline (an average of 15 minutes before receiving tDCS or sham) and on average, 24 hours following stimulation or sham
Number of Pins Inserted Into a Virtual Voodoo Doll at 24 Hours
Time Frame: On average, 24 hours after the tDCS or sham session
The number of pins (between 0 and 51) that participants decide to insert into a picture of a voodoo doll on a computer that represents either a romantic partner or close friend will be recorded on average 24 hours after receiving tDCS or sham stimulation.
On average, 24 hours after the tDCS or sham session

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Pennsylvania

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Adrian Raine, DPhil, University of Pennsylvania

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

March 1, 2015

Primary Completion (Actual)

December 1, 2017

Study Completion (Actual)

December 1, 2018

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 26, 2015

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 22, 2015

First Posted (Estimate)

April 28, 2015

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

August 28, 2019

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 14, 2019

Last Verified

August 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 821313

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.

Clinical Trials on Aggression

Clinical Trials on Sham transcranial direct current stimulation

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Mali

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

Subscribe