Neural Correlates of Repeated tDCS

March 22, 2018 updated by: Maastricht University Medical Center

Investigating the Neural Correlates of Repeated tDCS in MCI and Healthy Ageing With fMRI

Healthy ageing and pathological ageing in the context of a neurodegenerative disease are both associated with changes in brain network integrity. Episodic memory is especially affected in Alzheimer's disease, but is also decreased in healthy ageing. Consequently, the memory-relevant brain networks are especially altered. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has previously been implemented in different clinical- and non-clinical settings and has shown to beneficially influence network connectivity. The neural correlates of single-session tDCS have been investigated, however, the neural effects of repeated tDCS remain unknown. Furthermore, knowledge about the (long-term) neural mechanisms of repeated tDCS can give valuable insights and possibly pave the ground for exploring tDCS as a treatment option in future studies.

Study Overview

Status

Unknown

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

80

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

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

60 years to 85 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Patients

  • Diagnosis of MCI based on the latest research criteria (clinical assessment at the memory clinic (prof. Frans RJ Verhey): presence of at least a memory impairment, memory complaints expressed by the patient or informant, no problems in daily life functioning, no dementia and presence of biomarkers (Albert et al., 2011)
  • Clinical Dementia Rating score of 0.5 (CDR distinguishes a stage of questionable dementia (CDR 0.5) from people termed healthy (CDR 0) and those with mild dementia (CDR 1)
  • Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) 23 and being mentally competent (in general, individuals with a MMSE 18 are considered mentally competent)
  • Age: between 60 and 85 years old
  • 50% female
  • Right-handedness
  • Average level of education (CBS level 3-4-5-6)

Healthy controls

  • Average neuropsychological test results, in accordance with normative data, corrected for age, education and gender
  • No substantial memory complaints (according to the participant)
  • Age: between 60 and 85 years old
  • 50% female
  • Right-handedness
  • Average level of education (CBS level 3-4-5-6)
  • Normal or corrected to normal vision

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Psychoactive medication use
  • Abuse of alcohol and drugs
  • Cognitive impairment due to alcohol/drug abuse or abuse of other substances
  • Past or present psychiatric or neurological disorders (major depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, psychotic disorder (or treatment for it), epilepsy, stroke, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, brain surgery, brain trauma, electroshock therapy, kidney dialysis, Menière's disease, brain infections)
  • Major vascular disorders (e.g. stroke)
  • Heart diseases or pacemakers
  • Contraindications for scanning (e.g. brain surgery, cardiac pacemaker, metal implants, claustrophobia, body tattoos)
  • Large scars or fresh wounds on the scalp

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
Experimental: MCI-active
Patients will receive verum tDCS over the angular gyrus on five consecutive days.
Device: active tDCS
Participants will receive active tDCS over the angular gyrus on five consecutive days
Sham Comparator: MCI-sham
Patients will receive sham tDCS over the angular gyrus on five consecutive days.
Device: sham tDCS
Participants will receive sham tDCS over the angular gyrus on five consecutive days
Experimental: Healthy Old-active
Participants will receive verum tDCS over the angular gyrus on five consecutive days.
Device: active tDCS
Participants will receive active tDCS over the angular gyrus on five consecutive days
Sham Comparator: Healthy old-sham
Participants will receive sham tDCS over the angular gyrus on five consecutive days.
Device: sham tDCS
Participants will receive sham tDCS over the angular gyrus on five consecutive days

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
neural changes after multi-session tDCS
Time Frame: 5-12 days
fMRI-BOLD response
5-12 days
network changes after multi-session tDCS
Time Frame: 5-12 days
functional connectivity between network hubs
5-12 days

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Task performance changes after multi-session tDCS
Time Frame: 5-12 days
BPS-score
5-12 days

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Maastricht University Medical Center

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Heidi IL Jacobs, PhD, Maastricht University
  • Study Chair: Frans RJ Verhey, Professor, Maastricht University

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 (Actual)

May 2, 2017

Primary Completion (Anticipated)

December 1, 2018

Study Completion (Anticipated)

December 1, 2018

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 23, 2016

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 14, 2016

First Posted (Estimate)

December 19, 2016

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 26, 2018

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 22, 2018

Last Verified

March 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • NL57751.068.16

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

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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