Stimulating the Aging Brain Using Brain and Sensory Stimulation (StAB)

June 11, 2026 updated by: Priyanka Shah-Basak, PhD, Medical College of Wisconsin

Stimulating the Aging Brain: Noninvasive Brain and Sensory Stimulation Strategies in Aging

The goal of this project is to investigate whether transcranial electrical stimulation and sensory stimulation affect language outcomes in individuals with primary progressive aphasia (PPA). The main questions it aims to answer are:

Does transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) affect verbal short-term memory (STM) in individuals with PPA? Does a single session of multisensory stimulation affect verbal STM in individuals with PPA? Researchers will compare active tACS to sham tACS (a fake stimulation condition) to see if active tACS improves verbal STM. Researchers will compare pre-multisensory stimulation to post-stimulation performance to see if multisensory stimulation improves verbal STM.

Participants will:

Undergo EEG, MRI (anatomical and functional) May complete a cognitive exam Undergo tACS over 3 separate sessions Undergo multisensory stimulation Complete language tasks before, during and/or after stimulation

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The primary objective of the current project is to examine the effects of tACS and multisensory stimulation on verbal STM outcomes in individuals with PPA. The selection of parameters will be guided on the basis of oscillatory brain activity using language task-based or task-free EEG paradigms. Neuroimaging (MRI and functional MRI) will guide spatial targets of tACS. A secondary objective is to explore sources of individual variability in response to stimulation and whether these factors could offer insight into disease progression. This proof-of-concept, pilot project will generate essential preliminary data to help refine hypotheses for future clinical trials aimed at assessing the efficacy of these intervention strategies in predicting and treating (as in delaying) disease progression.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

20

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 Contact

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Wisconsin
      • Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, 53226
        • Recruiting
        • Medical College of Wisconsin
        • Contact:

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Clinical exam supports diagnosis of PPA and/or MCI with no report of difficulty functioning in basic or instrumental activities of daily living.
  • Completed clinical cognitive exam within 6 months of study baseline visit OR neuropsychological research battery within 6 months of study baseline visit.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Evidence of dementia at baseline
  • Known history of neoplasm, symptomatic stroke, moderate to severe traumatic brain injury, or other significant neurologic event
  • Age <45 years.
  • Evidence of severe psychiatric illness (e.g., bipolar disorder, schizophrenia).
  • Presence of cardiac stimulators or pacemakers
  • Any other implants near the scalp or in the eye
  • Contraindications to MRI or stimulation
  • Pregnancy
  • History of ongoing or unmanaged seizures
  • History of dyslexia or other developmental learning disabilities

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: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: tACS or multisensory stimulation

All participants in a within-subject design will receive high-Definition-tACS, delivered via a battery operated alternating current stimulator (Soterix) using two center-surround montages. Targets of stimulation will be localized based on the 10-10 International EEG system with center electrodes placed at a frontal and a temporoparietal site. The current is turned on and increased in a ramplike fashion over approximately 30 seconds. Participants will undergo tACS with frequencies ranging from 4-40Hz for 20-minutes with 2 milliampere (mA) peak-to-peak intensity. For sham stimulation, tACS is turned off after the first 30 seconds.

All participants will receive light and/or sound flicker stimulation using an off-the-shelf app for 20 minutes.
Device: tACS or multisensory stimulation
Active or sham tACS Light and/or sound flickers

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Changes in STM capacity assessed using a verbal STM task
Time Frame: Changes monitored over pre, during and immediately after 20 minutes of tACS
Improvement in STM capacity with in-phase tACS and worsening of STM capacity with anti-phase tACS compared to sham tACS
Changes monitored over pre, during and immediately after 20 minutes of tACS
Changes in STM capacity with multisensory stimulation using a verbal STM task
Time Frame: Changes monitored pre and immediately after 20 minutes of stimulation
Improvement in STM capacity post-stimulation compared to pre-stimulation
Changes monitored pre and immediately after 20 minutes of stimulation

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Medical College of Wisconsin

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Priyanka Shah-Basak, PhD, Medical College of Wisconsin

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)

June 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

May 30, 2031

Study Completion (Estimated)

May 30, 2035

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 8, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 11, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

June 16, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 16, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 11, 2026

Last Verified

June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • PRO00056114

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

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

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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