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CompletedNCT04614792VEG-TDCSUpdated Feb 28, 2024

Excitatory Prefrontal Weak Current Stimulation in Vegetative Patients

An interventional study of Transcranial direct current stimulation in Disorder of Consciousness, MMN and Modification of Cognitive Status Indication, sponsored by Oded Meiron. Completed at 1 site in Israel. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 90 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2024-02-28.

Sponsored by Oded Meiron · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Registered 6 years 5 months after the study started (first participant enrolled Apr 2014, registered Oct 2020).
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
16
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years to 90 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

In response to "conscious" EEG findings related to detectable cognitive function that reliably denote awareness in vegetative state patients, in the current study, we will assess the covert conscious EEG activity (as well as standard clinical overt measures) and neuroplasctic propensity (i.e., changes in EEG spectral power synchronization values following tDCS intervention) in vegetative-state patients receiving repetitive transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) treatment over frontal motor areas for a period of two weeks. In support of this approach, a recent tDCS study with vegetative and minimally conscious patients implied that a twenty minutes anodal stimulation (i.e., excitatory stimulation) to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) significantly increased CRS-R scores versus sham (placebo: non-active stimulation) stimulation condition. It was noted that this tDCS effect was more pronounced in minimally conscious state patients versus vegetative state patients excluding effects of chronicity or etiology. Thus, the investigators in this study suggested that tDCS could be effective in improving cognitive recovery in severely brain-injured patients. However, their findings would benefit neural activation correlates that could support their conclusion regarding the effectiveness of this type of non-invasive intervention in promoting neurocognitive recovery. Most importantly, tDCS is safe for use in humans, has no adverse effects, is considered the most non-invasive transcranial stimulation method because it uses extremely weak currents (0.5 to 2 mA), and, is known to only temporarily shift the neuron's membrane potential towards excitation/inhibition. In regard to the method's potential to induce functional recovery in vegetative state patients, recent clinical studies indicate that tDCS could counteract the negative effects of brain damage by influencing neurophysiological mechanisms, and is likely to contribute to the "formation of functionally meaningful connections and the maintenance of existing pathways" .

02

Conditions studied

  • Disorder of Consciousness
  • MMN
  • Modification of Cognitive Status Indication
  • Anoxic Brain Damage
  • Trauma, Brain
  • Vegetative State
  • EEG; Paroxysms, Occipital, Epilepsy of Childhood
  • Cortical Atrophy
03

In context

Consciousness Disorders

290 studies on the registry are indexed under Consciousness Disorders; 109 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 16 is below the median of 47 across 191 interventional studies indexed under Consciousness Disorders.

Browse Consciousness Disorders studies →

Lead sponsor

Oded Meiron is the lead sponsor of 2 studies on the registry; none are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 90 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Anoxic brain damage/TBI/CVA/progressive dementia/encephalopathy
  • Vegetative state patients or minimally conscious state according to CRS-R criteria
  • Ages 18 to 90
  • Consent for participation in clinical study (e.g., ) by legal guardian of patients.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Intracranial metal implants
  • Implanted devices that may be affected by tDCS (pacemaker, medication pump, cochlear implant, implanted brain stimulator)
  • Active medical condition that would preclude medical stability for the study, including significant abnormalities, cardiac arrhythmia, uncontrolled high blood pressure
  • Participation in other research studies
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(2)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

ECG (electrocardiogram)

A recording of the heart’s electrical activity, taken with stickers on the chest, arms and legs. It takes a few minutes and does not hurt.

05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
16 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    active treatment

    open label experimental treatment

    Device: Transcranial direct current stimulation

Interventions

  • DeviceTranscranial direct current stimulation

    Non-invasive brain stimulation or neuromodulation.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. JFK COMA RECOVERY SCALE - REVISED

    JFK Coma recovery Scale - Revised scores for diagnosing disorders of consciousness. This cynical assessment scale examines reflexive behaviors such as response to pain and startle, and touch. The CRS consists of 25 hierarchically arranged items that comprise 6 subscales addressing auditory, visual, motor, oro- motor, communication, and arousal processes. Scoring is based on the presence or absence of specific behavioral responses to sensory stimuli administered in a standardized manner. The lowest item on each subscale represents reflexive activity, whereas the highest items represent cognitively mediated behaviors. sub scales represent motor function, auditory function, visual function sub scales and arousal sub scales. The low scores indicate low levels of functioning and the higher score indicate high levels of function an awareness. Maximum score is 23 and a minimal score is 0.

    Time frame: 24 months

Secondary outcomes

  1. MMN ERP amplitudes

    Prefronal-Temopral cortex neuroplasticity and reactivity to sound : size of early auditory processing ERP amplitudes. If the negative change in ERP amplitudes is larger than in indicates better change-detection and neurplasticity.

    Time frame: 2 weeks

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Herzog Medical Center
    Jerusalem, 91035, Israel
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Angelakis E, Liouta E, Andreadis N, Korfias S, Ktonas P, Stranjalis G, Sakas DE. Transcranial direct current stimulation effects in disorders of consciousness. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2014 Feb;95(2):283-9. doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2013.09.002. Epub 2013 Sep 11. PubMed 24035769 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No — Treatment methods and diagnostic methods will be shared as well as change in clinical and neurological status via research publication.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Feb 28, 2024, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT04614792
Lead sponsor
Oded Meiron
Collaborators
Neurosteer Ltd.
Responsible party
Oded Meiron (Director of Non-invasive Brain Stimulation Center, Herzog Hospital) — Sponsor-investigator
First posted
Nov 4, 2020
Start date
Apr 30, 2014
Primary completion
Dec 27, 2023
Completion
Dec 27, 2023
Last update
Feb 28, 2024

Study contacts

Efraim Jaul, MD
principal investigator · Herzog Medical Center

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Feb 2024. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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