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Vagal Nerve Stimulation To Enhance Cognition and Learning

17 luglio 2026 aggiornato da: Sima Mofakham, Stony Brook University

Evaluation of Vagus Nerve Stimulation Paired With Cognitive Training to Enhance Learning and Memory and Neural Plasticity in Post-Stroke Patients

The purpose of this study is to find out whether pairing vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) with cognitive training can improve memory and language learning in people who have previously used VNS therapy for movement rehabilitation after a stroke. VNS has been previously used to support motor recovery after stroke, but its effect on cognitive learning is not yet fully understood. This study is enrolling individuals who already have a VNS device implanted and have successfully completed VNS-assisted movement therapy. The investigators aim to explore whether continuing to use the device during a language learning program may also support memory and cognitive improvement. This is a research study, which means the use of VNS for cognitive enhancement is experimental and not currently part of standard treatment. An exploratory MRI/fMRI component also will assess whether VNS-paired language learning is associated with changes in task-based activation and resting-state functional connectivity in language, memory, salience/arousal, and frontoparietal cognitive-control networks. The information learned may help guide future approaches to stroke rehabilitation and cognitive recovery.

Panoramica dello studio

Stato

Iscrizione su invito

Condizioni

Intervento / Trattamento

Descrizione dettagliata

Stroke survivors frequently experience persistent cognitive, memory, and language-related difficulties that can affect independence and quality of life. VNS paired with rehabilitation has been shown to enhance motor recovery after stroke, and paired stimulation may support experience-dependent neural plasticity. This study extends that approach to cognitive and language learning by pairing VNS with structured foreign-language vocabulary training.

Eligible participants will be adults with prior stroke who are scheduled to receive, or have received, clinically indicated Vivistim VNS implantation for rehabilitation and who are able to participate in the language-learning intervention. Participants will be randomized to active VNS or sham stimulation during daily language-learning sessions over approximately six weeks. The active stimulation group will receive programmed VNS paired with language-learning stimuli; the sham group will undergo the same language-learning procedures with stimulation amplitude set to zero or otherwise configured according to the sham protocol. Participants will be blinded to group assignment when feasible.

The neuroimaging sub-study will include MRI/fMRI at up to three time points: pre-surgery baseline, when feasible before clinically indicated implantation; post-surgery/pre-language-training baseline; and post-training. The post-surgery/pre-training scan is the key baseline for the language-learning intervention, particularly for participants who already have the device implanted. MRI sessions will include structural MRI, resting-state fMRI, and a task-based foreign-word semantic matching paradigm. The primary task-based fMRI contrast will examine changes in neural responses to future-trained versus trained foreign words compared with never-trained foreign words. Resting-state analyses will examine changes in functional connectivity across language, memory, salience/arousal, frontoparietal cognitive control, and stroke recovery networks. A brief optional 0-back/1-back working-memory fMRI task may be included if scan time and participant tolerance allow.

Tipo di studio

Interventistico

Iscrizione (Stimato)

20

Fase

  • Non applicabile

Contatti e Sedi

Questa sezione fornisce i recapiti di coloro che conducono lo studio e informazioni su dove viene condotto lo studio.

Luoghi di studio

    • New York
      • Stony Brook, New York, Stati Uniti, 11790
        • Stony Brook University Hospital

Criteri di partecipazione

I ricercatori cercano persone che corrispondano a una certa descrizione, chiamata criteri di ammissibilità. Alcuni esempi di questi criteri sono le condizioni generali di salute di una persona o trattamenti precedenti.

Criteri di ammissibilità

Età idonea allo studio

  • Adulto
  • Adulto più anziano

Accetta volontari sani

No

Descrizione

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Adults aged 22 years or older
  • History of stroke
  • Implanted with a Vivistim™ VNS device
  • Monolingual in English
  • Home-dwelling and independent in activities of daily living
  • No prior language training in the selected language of learning
  • Tolerated 6 weeks of movement therapy at 0.8 mA without incident and has used the device for at-home stimulation without incident
  • Willing and able to participate in a six-week at-home intervention
  • Clinically stable, without major concurrent medical conditions that would interfere with study participation

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Severe aphasia
  • Unable to read and/or write in English
  • Significant uncorrected hearing or visual impairment
  • Unable to commit to 6 weeks of therapy
  • Pregnancy
  • Prisoner or ward of the state
  • Any medical condition that, in the investigator's judgment, would make participation unsafe
  • Younger than 22 years of age

Piano di studio

Questa sezione fornisce i dettagli del piano di studio, compreso il modo in cui lo studio è progettato e ciò che lo studio sta misurando.

Come è strutturato lo studio?

Dettagli di progettazione

  • Scopo principale: Trattamento
  • Assegnazione: Randomizzato
  • Modello interventistico: Assegnazione parallela
  • Mascheramento: Separare

Armi e interventi

Gruppo di partecipanti / Arm
Intervento / Trattamento
Comparatore attivo: VNS Group
Group that was implanted with VNS and will receive stimulations
Subjects previously implanted with VNS will undergo second language acquisition
Comparatore fittizio: Sham Group
Group that will receive sham stimulations
Subjects previously implanted with VNS will undergo second language acquisition

Cosa sta misurando lo studio?

Misure di risultato primarie

Misura del risultato
Misura Descrizione
Lasso di tempo
Change in Foreign-Language Vocabulary Learning Accuracy
Lasso di tempo: Baseline and 6 weeks
Vocabulary learning will be assessed using trained foreign-language vocabulary items. The outcome is the percentage of trained vocabulary items correctly recalled, recognized, or translated. Scores range from 0% to 100%, with higher scores indicating better vocabulary learning.
Baseline and 6 weeks
Change in Foreign-Language Sentence Learning Accuracy
Lasso di tempo: Baseline and 6 weeks
Sentence learning will be assessed using trained short foreign-language sentences. The outcome is the percentage of trained sentence items correctly understood, completed, recalled, or translated. Scores range from 0% to 100%, with higher scores indicating better sentence learning.
Baseline and 6 weeks

Misure di risultato secondarie

Misura del risultato
Misura Descrizione
Lasso di tempo
Change in Global Cognition on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)
Lasso di tempo: 6 weeks
Global cognition will be measured using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment total score. Scores range from 0 to 30, with higher scores indicating better cognitive function.
6 weeks
Change in Verbal Learning on the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test
Lasso di tempo: 6 weeks
Verbal learning will be measured as the total number of words recalled across Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test learning trials. Scores range from 0 to 75, with higher scores indicating better verbal learning.
6 weeks
Change in Delayed Verbal Memory on the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test
Lasso di tempo: 6 weeks
Delayed verbal memory will be measured as the number of words recalled after a delay on the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test. Scores range from 0 to 15, with higher scores indicating better delayed verbal memory.
6 weeks
Change in Verbal Learning on the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised
Lasso di tempo: 6 weeks
Verbal learning will be measured as the total number of words recalled across Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised immediate recall trials. Scores range from 0 to 36, with higher scores indicating better verbal learning.
6 weeks
Change in Delayed Verbal Memory on the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised
Lasso di tempo: 6 weeks
Delayed verbal memory will be measured as the number of words recalled after a delay on the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised. Scores range from 0 to 12, with higher scores indicating better delayed verbal memory.
6 weeks
Change in Language Function on the Western Aphasia Battery
Lasso di tempo: 6 weeks
Language function will be measured using the Western Aphasia Battery Aphasia Quotient. Scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating better language function.
6 weeks
Change in Story Recall on the Automatic Story Recall Test
Lasso di tempo: 6 weeks
Story recall will be measured using the Automatic Story Recall Test score. Scores will be reported as the percentage of story content correctly recalled, ranging from 0% to 100%, with higher scores indicating better story recall.
6 weeks
Change in Working Memory on the Digit Span Task
Lasso di tempo: 6 weeks
Working memory will be measured using the Digit Span Task total raw score. Scores range from 0 to 48 if using the WAIS-IV Digit Span version, with higher scores indicating better working memory.
6 weeks

Altre misure di risultato

Misura del risultato
Misura Descrizione
Lasso di tempo
Change in Resting-State Functional Connectivity Between Language and Memory Networks
Lasso di tempo: Pre-surgery baseline, post-surgery/pre-training baseline, and immediately after the 6-week language-training intervention
Resting-state functional connectivity between predefined language and memory networks will be measured. The outcome will be reported as change in Fisher z-transformed correlation coefficients between these networks. Higher values indicate stronger functional connectivity.
Pre-surgery baseline, post-surgery/pre-training baseline, and immediately after the 6-week language-training intervention
Change in Resting-State Functional Connectivity Between Language and Salience/Arousal Networks
Lasso di tempo: Pre-surgery baseline, post-surgery/pre-training baseline, and immediately after the 6-week language-training intervention
Resting-state functional connectivity between predefined language and salience/arousal networks will be measured. The outcome will be reported as change in Fisher z-transformed correlation coefficients between these networks. Higher values indicate stronger functional connectivity.
Pre-surgery baseline, post-surgery/pre-training baseline, and immediately after the 6-week language-training intervention
Change in Resting-State Functional Connectivity Between Language and Default Mode Networks
Lasso di tempo: Pre-surgery baseline, post-surgery/pre-training baseline, and immediately after the 6-week language-training intervention
Resting-state functional connectivity between predefined language and default mode networks will be measured. The outcome will be reported as change in Fisher z-transformed correlation coefficients between these networks. Higher values indicate stronger functional connectivity.
Pre-surgery baseline, post-surgery/pre-training baseline, and immediately after the 6-week language-training intervention
Change in Resting-State Functional Connectivity Between Language and Frontoparietal Cognitive-Control Networks
Lasso di tempo: Pre-surgery baseline, post-surgery/pre-training baseline, and immediately after the 6-week language-training intervention
Resting-state functional connectivity between predefined language and frontoparietal cognitive-control networks will be measured. The outcome will be reported as change in Fisher z-transformed correlation coefficients between these networks. Higher values indicate stronger functional connectivity.
Pre-surgery baseline, post-surgery/pre-training baseline, and immediately after the 6-week language-training intervention
Change in Task-Based fMRI Activation During Foreign-Word Processing
Lasso di tempo: Pre-surgery baseline, post-surgery/pre-training baseline, and immediately after the 6-week language-training intervention.
Task-based fMRI activation will be measured during presentation of trained, future-trained, and never-trained foreign words. The outcome will be reported as change in blood-oxygen-level-dependent activation, measured by contrast estimate or percent signal change, for trained and future-trained words compared with never-trained words. Higher values indicate greater task-related activation.
Pre-surgery baseline, post-surgery/pre-training baseline, and immediately after the 6-week language-training intervention.

Collaboratori e investigatori

Qui è dove troverai le persone e le organizzazioni coinvolte in questo studio.

Sponsor

Studiare le date dei record

Queste date tengono traccia dell'avanzamento della registrazione dello studio e dell'invio dei risultati di sintesi a ClinicalTrials.gov. I record degli studi e i risultati riportati vengono esaminati dalla National Library of Medicine (NLM) per assicurarsi che soddisfino specifici standard di controllo della qualità prima di essere pubblicati sul sito Web pubblico.

Studia le date principali

Inizio studio (Effettivo)

17 novembre 2025

Completamento primario (Stimato)

1 dicembre 2026

Completamento dello studio (Stimato)

1 dicembre 2026

Date di iscrizione allo studio

Primo inviato

26 giugno 2026

Primo inviato che soddisfa i criteri di controllo qualità

17 luglio 2026

Primo Inserito (Effettivo)

22 luglio 2026

Aggiornamenti dei record di studio

Ultimo aggiornamento pubblicato (Effettivo)

22 luglio 2026

Ultimo aggiornamento inviato che soddisfa i criteri QC

17 luglio 2026

Ultimo verificato

1 gennaio 2026

Maggiori informazioni

Termini relativi a questo studio

Altri numeri di identificazione dello studio

  • IRB2025-00209

Piano per i dati dei singoli partecipanti (IPD)

Hai intenzione di condividere i dati dei singoli partecipanti (IPD)?

SÌ

Periodo di condivisione IPD

Within one year of study completion

Tipo di informazioni di supporto alla condivisione IPD

  • STUDIO_PROTOCOLLO
  • ICF

Informazioni su farmaci e dispositivi, documenti di studio

Studia un prodotto farmaceutico regolamentato dalla FDA degli Stati Uniti

No

Studia un dispositivo regolamentato dalla FDA degli Stati Uniti

Sì

prodotto fabbricato ed esportato dagli Stati Uniti

Sì

Queste informazioni sono state recuperate direttamente dal sito web clinicaltrials.gov senza alcuna modifica. In caso di richieste di modifica, rimozione o aggiornamento dei dettagli dello studio, contattare register@clinicaltrials.gov. Non appena verrà implementata una modifica su clinicaltrials.gov, questa verrà aggiornata automaticamente anche sul nostro sito web .