Effect of rTMS of the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex on Language Production in Healthy Participants

October 7, 2019 updated by: Jean-Marie Annoni

Role of Executive Function in Language: an Experimental and Clinical Approach With Application to Mother Language and Second Language

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) on language production.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Background:

Several studies investigating healthy or clinical populations have shown that (r)TMS applied over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) has an effect on language-related processes such as verbal working memory (Osaka et al., 2007), sentence comprehension (Cotelli et al., 2011) and language switching (Holtzheimer et al., 2005, Nardone et al., 2011).

Clinical observations and neuroimaging studies seem to confirm the role of executive functions and frontal structures in language processing in monolingual and bilingual subjects (e.g. Fabbro et al., 2000, Abutalebi & Green 2007). However, only few studies investigated the effects of modulation of cognitive control-networks on lexical access.

Aim and procedure:

The study will investigate the role of the DLPFC and executive functioning in L1 and L2 language processing. The core question is whether rTMS over the DLPFC will influence lexical access and language production.

Each participant will take part in two sessions: 1. rTMS session 2. Sham rTMS session. After the application of rTMS/Sham rTMS, the participants will conduct two language tasks (translation, picture naming) and a non-verbal task, while the EEG is recorded.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

22

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

  • Switzerland
      • Fribourg, Switzerland, 1700
        • Laboratory for Cognitive and Neurological Sciences

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 to 45 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • L1 French, knowledge of English as a foreign language
  • 18-45 years of age
  • Right-handedness

Exclusion Criteria:

  • epilepsy /family history of epilepsy
  • brain surgery, traumatic brain injuries
  • cardiac pacemaker, metallic objects in the body
  • history of neurological diseases or psychiatric disorders
  • drug use (alcohol, psychoactive medication)
  • developmental language 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: Other
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Sham Comparator: Sham rTMS
Device: Sham rTMS
Sham rTMS (or placebo rTMS) refers to a control condition in which no physiological effect on the targeted cortical region occurs.
Experimental: rTMS
Device: rTMS
repetitive TMS (rTMS) can lead to temporary increases or decreases (depending on the protocol used) in excitability of the targeted area. This change in excitability has been shown to last beyond the duration of the stimulation.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Language production
Time Frame: within 30 mins after rTMS/sham rTMS
Picture naming task and word translation task
within 30 mins after rTMS/sham rTMS

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
non-verbal executive functions task
Time Frame: within 30 mins after rTMS/sham rTMS
within 30 mins after rTMS/sham rTMS

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Jean-Marie Annoni

Collaborators

University Hospital Inselspital, Berne

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Jean-Marie Annoni, Prof. Dr., University of Fribourg

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, 2016

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2017

Study Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2017

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 19, 2016

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 20, 2016

First Posted (Estimate)

July 21, 2016

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

October 9, 2019

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 7, 2019

Last Verified

October 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • SNF325130_156937_2

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

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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