An interventional study of High frequency transcranial random noise and Sham high frequency transcranial random noise in Transcranial Random Noise Stimulation (tRNS), Electroencephalography and Alzheimer Disease, sponsored by Anhui Medical University. Recruiting at 1 site in China. Open to participants aged 45 Years to 84 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-09-18.
Sponsored by Anhui Medical University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
To investigate the treatment effect of Transcranial random noise (tRNS) on Alzheimer patients, and the underlying neural mechanism by EEG.
All patients underwent a medical evaluation that included physical examination and routine laboratory studies before and after Transcranial random noise (tRNS) treatment. Upon meeting the inclusion criteria and providing informed consent, each participant will complete a series of cognitive assessments and tRNS treatments at the First Affiliated Hospital of AnHui medical university. Patients were randomly allocated to tRNS group and the sham group. There are about 20 patients in each group. For the all patients, allocation was by coin toss. Patients were studied using a double-blind design. Study participants, clinical raters, and all personnel responsible for the clinical care of the patient remained masked to allocated condition and allocation parameters. Only tRNS administrators had access to the randomization list; they had minimal contact with the patients, and no role in cognitive and synptom assessments. Each patient would be treated for continuous 14 days by tRNS. The stimulation electrodes were arranged in a 4 × 1 ring at AFz, FCz, F7, C5 and F3, with the central electrode producing a random alternating current of 1.5ma and the surrounding 4 electrodes producing 1/4 of the current of the central electrode. At 100-640 Hz tRNS, participants had a mean interpeak-to-peak stimulation intensity of 1.5mA. Under the sham conditions, 100-640 Hz tRNS were delivered only during the ascent and descent phases (30 seconds); No current was transmitted during the 30-minute intervention. The tRNS stimulation lasted for 30 minutes, which is common in cognitive neuroscience research.
Before the tRNS treatment, a series of cognitive assessments and neuropsychological tests were obtained by a trained investigator to assess baseline. Each assessment will involve a set of assessment tools, the associative memory as the primary outcome measure and various other tasks and questionnaires to measure cognition(including MoCA,MMSE, DS, Stroop test, TMT, BNT-30, VFT, CDT,JLOT. Form H,HVOT), memory (CAVLT, LMT), emotion(HAMA-17,HAMD-14,GDS-30), behavioral and psychological symptoms(NPI), and treatment tolerability. All the tests are conducted in two days. The patient received resting EEG data collection. After the last treatment, the MoCA, and associative memory were obtained, as well as the Global Index of Safety to assess adverse events of the treatment. Patients were instructed to focus their answers on the past 14 days. The patients had also receiving a battery measure of neuropsychological tests, resting EEG. Two month after the last treatment, participants were interviewed to obtain the same assessment as before. They were instructed to focus their answers on the past months.
3,965 studies on the registry are indexed under Alzheimer Disease; 926 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 40 is below the median of 70 across 3,019 interventional studies indexed under Alzheimer Disease.
Browse Alzheimer Disease studies →Anhui Medical University is the lead sponsor of 104 studies on the registry; 50 are open to participants now.
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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.
Exclusion Criteria:
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.
Short tests of memory and thinking, each scored out of 30. Lower scores suggest more difficulty; criteria give a range, either to include people with memory problems or to leave them out.
Relapsed: the illness came back after treatment had worked. Refractory: it did not respond to treatment, or stopped responding while still on it.
MMSE and MoCA
Short tests of memory and thinking, each scored out of 30. Lower scores suggest more difficulty; criteria give a range, either to include people with memory problems or to leave them out.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Relapsed and refractory
Relapsed: the illness came back after treatment had worked. Refractory: it did not respond to treatment, or stopped responding while still on it.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Participants will receive real tRNS once daily for two weeks
Device: High frequency transcranial random noise
Arm Description: Participants will receive sham tRNS once daily for two weeks
Device: Sham high frequency transcranial random noise
High frequency tRNS is described as a non-invasive form of brain stimulation that uses a low-intensity, alternating current applied directly to the head through scalp electrodes.
In the sham condition, tRNS was delivered only during the ramp-up and ramp-down periods (30s); no current was delivered during the 30-minute intervention.
1. Alzheimers Disease Assessment Scale Cognitive section(ADAS-Cog)
The changes in Alzheimers Disease Assessment Scale Cognitive section (ADAS-Cog) will constitute the major research outcome measure used to assess response to Transcranial Random Noise (tRNS). The ADAS-Cog scale is a scale used for clinical assessment of dementia patients with some memory efficiency tests, which can be used as an objective assessment of memory. The scale is considered a tool capable of providing a specific assessment of the severity of cognitive and non-cognitive behavioral impairments in people with Alzheimer's disease or dementia. The advantage of the ADAS-Cog compared to other scales used in the same clinical area is that its score quantifies clinical and impressionistic aspects of the patient assessed by the examiner, as well as objectively defined cognitive characteristics. The higher the ADAS-Cog score, the worse the cognitive function. The minimum value is 0 and the maximum is 86.
Time frame: baseline, 2 weeks and 8 weeks after treatment
Associative Memory
The changes in Associative Memory will constitute the major research outcome measure used to assess response to tRNS. The associative memory test uses facial cue word recall. The subjects memorized 20 photos of faces displayed on a screen in gray scale for 4 seconds each. When each card was presented, a common word appeared alongside the face. The subjects had to remember associations between faces and words by association. After a delay of about a minute after the study ended, the subjects were shown 12 of the same faces in different random orders, instructing them to recall the words that appeared with each face during the study. Recorded the correct number of words each face recalled. The faces were taken from a database of 24 amateur models. Each test format included only male or female faces.
Time frame: baseline, 2 weeks and 8 weeks after treatment
Plan to share: No
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Started Sep 2026 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Sep 2027, 12 months after the start.
Of 882 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Alzheimer Disease, half reached primary completion within 30 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 15 and three quarters within 51. This study's planned 12 months is below that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 959 studies reached it within 29 months; a quarter within 15 and three quarters within 51.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
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