An interventional study of anodal tDCS and Intensive cognitive training in Subjective Cognitive Decline and Mild Cognitive Impairment, sponsored by University Medicine Greifswald. Completed at 1 site in Germany. Open to participants aged 60 Years to 80 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2022-11-04.
Sponsored by University Medicine Greifswald · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
The aim of this study is to investigate whether a tDCS-accompanied intensive cognitive training of working memory leads to performance improvement in individuals with prodromal Alzheimer's disease.
The goal of the present study is to assess behavioral (primary) effects of a multi-session cognitive training combined with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). Many studies to date have found tDCS to be an efficient method to enhance various cognitive functions by modulating cortical excitability in young adults, but its behavioral impact and underlying mechanisms in pathological aging still need to be elucidated. Individuals with prodromal Alzheimer's disease, will participate in a three-week cognitive training with concurrent online tDCS application. Cognitive performance (primary) will be examined before, during and after the intervention, in order to draw conclusions about the effect of tDCS. In addition to cognitive training, a control group, receiving sham stimulation during training, will be assessed. Follow-up sessions to assess long-term effects are planned four weeks and seven months after the post assessment. Furthermore, to assess potential predictors of tDCS effects, functional and structural parameters will be measured with MRI. The results of the study will offer valuable insights into efficacy of combined tDCS and cognitive training, as compared to training alone, in individuals with prodromal stages of Alzheimer's disease. Moreover, improved understanding of tDCS effects on cognitive training performance and underlying neural correlates may help to develop novel approaches for modulating cognitive decline in healthy and pathological aging.
3,678 studies on the registry are indexed under Alzheimer Disease; 872 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 46 is below the median of 70 across 2,808 interventional studies indexed under Alzheimer Disease.
Browse Alzheimer Disease studies →University Medicine Greifswald is the lead sponsor of 149 studies on the registry; 22 are open to participants now.
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Exclusion Criteria:
Anodal tDCS + intensive cognitive training
Device: anodal tDCS · Behavioral: Intensive cognitive training
Sham tDCS + intensive cognitive training
Behavioral: Intensive cognitive training
Anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), 9 sessions with 20 minutes stimulation each (current intensity of 1mA)
Intensive cognitive training of a letter memory updating task and a 3-stage Markov decision making task, 9 sessions
Working memory training performance (Letter Updating task)
Performance in a memory training task (Letter updating) under anodal tDCS compared to sham condition; operationalized by working Memory Updating performance assessed with number of correctly recalled letter lists in the letter updating task, analyzed immediately after training period (anodal condition versus sham)
Time frame: 3 weeks
Working memory training performance (Markov task)
Performance in second memory training task (Markov decision making) under anodal tDCS compared to sham condition, analyzed immediately after training period (anodal condition versus sham)
Time frame: 3 weeks
Transfer outcomes: numerical n-back task (% correct)
Comparing performance immediately before and after training period (anodal condition versus sham)
Time frame: 3 weeks
Transfer outcomes: AVLT (auditory verbal learning test) (sum of correctly recalled items trials 1-5)
Comparing performance immediately before and after training period (anodal condition versus sham)
Time frame: 3 weeks
Transfer outcomes: Wiener Matrices Test (no. correct)
Comparing performance immediately before and after training period (anodal condition versus sham)
Time frame: 3 weeks
Long-term outcomes: Letter Updating task (no. of correctly recalled lists)
Comparing performance immediately before and after training period with performance at 4 weeks and 7-months after training period (anodal condition versus sham)
Time frame: 4 weeks and 7 months after training
Long-term outcomes: Markov decision making task (% optimal actions)
Comparing performance immediately before and after training period with performance at 4 weeks and 7-months after training period (anodal condition versus sham)
Time frame: 4 weeks and 7 months after training
Long-term outcomes: numerical n-back task (% correct)
Comparing performance immediately before and after training period with performance at 4 weeks and 7-months after training period (anodal condition versus sham)
Time frame: 4 weeks and 7 months after training
Long-term outcomes: AVLT (auditory verbal learning test) (sum of correctly recalled items trials 1-5)
Comparing performance immediately before and after training period with performance at 4 weeks and 7-months after training period (anodal condition versus sham)
Time frame: 4 weeks and 7 months after training
Long-term outcomes: Wiener Matrices Test (no. correct)
Comparing performance immediately before and after training period with performance at 4 weeks and 7-months after training period (anodal condition versus sham)
Time frame: 4 weeks and 7 months after training
Neural correlates: Structural neural correlates of tDCS effect
- structural neural correlates; assessed by grey matter volumes, cortical thickness, white matter microstructure (diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) measures: fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity) before the intervention and at 7-months after training period (correlations in anodal group)
Time frame: before training; 7 months after training
Neural correlates: Functional neural correlates of tDCS effect
- functional neural correlates; assessed by resting-state fMRI analyses to obtain functional connectivities (seed-based connectivity: correlation of BOLD-timeseries between a seed/ROI and every voxel/location in the brain) before the intervention and at 7-months after training period (correlations in anodal group)
Time frame: before training; 7 months after training
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Plan to share: No
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University Medicine Greifswald