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Status unknownNCT04752800Updated May 9, 2022

Brain Connectivity as a Biomarker of Response to Transcranial Stimulation by Continuous Current in Patients With Stroke

An interventional study of Direct Current Transcranial Stimulation - tDCS and Sham Intervention in Stroke, sponsored by Federal University of Paraíba. Status unknown. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 100 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2022-05-09.

Sponsored by Federal University of Paraíba · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

The sponsor has not verified this record recently (last verified May 2022), so the status shown — last known as Not yet recruiting — may be out of date.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
60
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 100 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

A randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled clinical trial will be conducted with 30 people with stroke, recruited at a referral hospital in João Pessoa. After recruitment they will be randomized into two groups: Group 1 - active stimulation and group - 2 sham stimulation. Participants will receive 10 sessions of ETCC, for 20 minutes, on alternate days (3 times a week), where the electrodes will be positioned over the primary motor cortex. 3 minutes of EEG at rest will be taken from each participant, and they will be instructed not to be actively involved in any cognitive or mental activity. In the first and last meetings, evaluations will be carried out, the outcomes evaluated will be: motor function, quality of life and functional connectivity.

Read the detailed description

Previous studies analyzed by systematic reviews suggest that the effects of ETCC may vary between subjects, where some stroke patients may not receive any additional benefits from therapy. Thus, it is necessary to use a biomarker that manages to elect those who will possibly benefit from the electric current. Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate whether the EEG measures of functional connectivity of the target network of the stimulation are associated with the response to ipsilesional anodic ETCC in patients with stroke in the late subacute phase. as well as to observe if these findings can be associated with a clinical improvement of the patient. For that, a randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled clinical trial will be carried out with 30 people with stroke, recruited at a referral hospital in joão Pessoa.

After recruitment they will be randomized into two groups: Group 1 - active stimulation and group - 2 sham stimulation. Participants will receive 10 sessions of ETCC, for 20 minutes, on alternate days (3 times a week), where the electrodes will be positioned over the primary motor cortex. 3 minutes of EEG at rest will be taken from each participant (Eyes open and eyes closed), and they will be instructed not to be actively involved in any cognitive or mental activity. In the first and last meetings, evaluations will be carried out, the outcomes assessed will be: motor function, quality of life and functional connectivity.

02

Conditions studied

  • Stroke

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Keywords

  • Stroke
  • Transcranial direct current stimulation
  • Functional Connectivity
  • Motor function
  • Quality of life
03

In context

Stroke

7,286 studies on the registry are indexed under Stroke; 2,007 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 60 is above the median of 50 across 5,369 interventional studies indexed under Stroke.

Browse Stroke studies →

Lead sponsor

Federal University of Paraíba is the lead sponsor of 72 studies on the registry; 6 are open to participants now.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 100 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • Have had a single episode of unilateral, ischemic stroke, in middle cerebral artery proven by means of magnetic resonance imaging or computed tomography;
  • Young adult individuals, over 18 years old;
  • Both sexes;
  • Patients in late subacute stage. Late sub-acute stage will be considered for patients between 3 and 6 months after stroke;
  • Mild to moderate patients with a Fugl-Meyer score >85 points;
  • Patients with mild to moderate degree of injury severity (NIHHS \<17 points);
  • Presentation of up to 4 points on the Rankin scale.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Use of drugs that modulate the activity of the Central Nervous System;
  • Carriers of implanted metallic or electronic devices; cardiac pacemaker;
  • habitual use of drugs or alcohol;
  • Epilepsy history report; gestation; people with traumatic brain injury or tumors.
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Double (Participant, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
60 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    active tDCS

    Participants will receive 10 ETCC sessions, for 20 minutes, on alternate days (3 times a week). The electrodes will be positioned on the primary motor cortex (position C3 or C4 according to the international electroencephalogram system - EEG 10/20), with the anode positioned on the affected hemisphere and the cathode on the supraorbital region in the hemisphere contralateral to the injury. The electrodes will be wrapped with sponges of 5 x 7 cm and moistened with saline (NaCl 0.9%). The current intensity will be 2mA.

    Device: Direct Current Transcranial Stimulation - tDCS

  • Sham comparator
    Sham tDCS

    The protocol for placebo stimulation will be identical, but the device will stop emitting current 30 seconds after the start of stimulation.

    Device: Sham Intervention

Interventions

  • DeviceDirect Current Transcranial Stimulation - tDCS

    Intervenção Ativa

  • DeviceSham Intervention

    Direct Current Transcranial Stimulation - Sham Intervention

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Motor function

    For the analysis of the primary outcome, the fulgl-Meyer evaluation scale will be used. The scale consists of a cumulative numerical scoring system that assesses aspects related to range of motion, pain, sensitivity, motor function of the upper and lower extremities, in addition to coordination and speed.

    Time frame: Baseline and after 3 weeks

Secondary outcomes

  1. Change in quality of life

    To assess quality of life, the SF-36 questionnaire will be used, which is a multidimensional instrument, easy to administer and understand, translated and validated in Brazil, consisting of 36 items, encompassed in 8 scales: functional capacity, physical aspects, pain, state general health, vitality, social aspects, emotional aspects and mental health. It has a maximum final score of 100 points, where the higher the score, the greater the health status.

    Time frame: Baseline and after 3 weeks

  2. Functional Connectivity

    For the EEG record, the actiCHamp32 model, Brain Products GmbH®, with 32 electrodes will be used. During data collection, participants will be seated in a comfortable chair, where they will be instructed to keep their gaze turned to a fixation point, avoiding talking or moving, these measures will be adopted to try to minimize the possible artifacts that may exist in the EEG record. Participants will also be instructed not to engage in any cognitive or mental activity during the collection period. The data will be collected in an environment conducive to the acquisition (silent place, with adequate lighting) where only the participant and the researcher responsible for the collection will be present.

    Time frame: Baseline and after 3 weeks

07

Study locations

No study locations are listed for this record.

08

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on May 9, 2022, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT04752800
Lead sponsor
Federal University of Paraíba
Responsible party
Suellen Marinho Andrade (Principal Researcher and Professor, Federal University of Paraíba) — Principal investigator
First posted
Feb 12, 2021
Start date
May 2022 (estimated)
Primary completion
Sep 2022 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 2022 (estimated)
Last update
May 9, 2022

Study contacts

Suellen Andrade
Contact
suellenandrade@gmail.com
83 99937-1471
Letícia Maria
Contact
leticiamaria.fisio@gmail.com
81 99368-4588
Suellen Andrade
principal investigator · Federal University of Paraiba

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 status unknown, as verified in May 2022. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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