Investigating Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) in Accelerating Learning in a Healthy Older Population

December 19, 2023 updated by: Sven Vanneste, The University of Texas at Dallas
The overall objective of this study is to explore whether transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) can accelerate associative learning and boost associative memory in healthy subjects.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The overall objective of this study is to explore whether transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) can accelerate associative learning and boost associative memory in healthy subjects.

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) stimulation during a verbal paired-associate learning task to determine if tDCS may be used as a way to enhance brain plasticity during an associative memory task, and to accelerate learning and to optimize associative memory performance. We hypothesize that participants who receive tDCS stimulation will improve their associative memory performance.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

30

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
    • Texas
      • Richardson, Texas, United States, 75080
        • University of Texas at Dallas

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

55 years to 75 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Age between 55 and 75
  2. Currently not using any medication contradicting with tDCS
  3. Native English speaker
  4. Capable of understanding and signing an informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Acquainted with the Swahili language or culture
  2. Severe disease
  3. Mental illness
  4. Cardiac history
  5. History of severe head injuries
  6. History of epileptic insults
  7. Any implanted devices such as pace maker, neurostimulator
  8. Pregnancy

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: Active tDCS
active HD-tDCS will be administered
Device: Active tDCS
Real stimulation
Sham Comparator: Sham tDCS
sham HD-tDCS will be administered
Device: Sham tDCS
Sham stimulation

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
A Computerized Verbal Paired-associate Memory Task Will be Used to Assess Memory Performance.
Time Frame: Memory performance changes will be assessed in two different visits. First assessment (baseline) on visit 1 (learning), then one-week after during visit 2 (memory)
Memory performance scores recorded in the computerized verbal paired-associate memory test during each visit will be compared between the two groups (active tDCS and sham tDCS).
Memory performance changes will be assessed in two different visits. First assessment (baseline) on visit 1 (learning), then one-week after during visit 2 (memory)

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

The University of Texas at Dallas

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Sven Vanneste, PhD, The University of Texas at Dallas

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 (Actual)

February 21, 2018

Primary Completion (Actual)

September 17, 2022

Study Completion (Actual)

October 21, 2022

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 28, 2018

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 15, 2018

First Posted (Actual)

March 16, 2018

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

January 9, 2024

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 19, 2023

Last Verified

December 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 18-40

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

Yes

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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