Impact of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Language Functions in Mild Cognitive Impairment

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Mild Cognitive Impairment
• Interventions: Device: tDCS

• Registration Number: NCT01771211
• Lead Sponsor: Charite University, Berlin, Germany

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to determine if non-invasive electrical brain stimulation can improve word-retrieval in Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI).

Detailed Description

Previous studies showed that anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (atDCS) can have beneficial effects on word-retrieval in healthy younger and older subjects. The present study aims to extend these findings by assessing whether atDCS can also improve known impairments of word-retrieval in Mild Cognitive Impairment. atDCS will be applied to the left inferior frontal gyrus in a sham controlled cross-over within subjects design. Simultaneous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) will assess underlying neural effects of the stimulation.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2012-12
• Study First Submitted: 2013-01-14
• Study First Submitted QC: 2013-01-16
• Study First Posted: 2013-01-18
• Primary Completion: 2013-07
• Study Completion: 2013-07
• Status Verified: 2013-08
• Last Update Submitted: 2013-08-20
• Last Update Posted: 2013-08-22

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 18

Inclusion Criteria

• right handed
• German native speakers
• clinical diagnosis of Mild Cognitive Impairment

Exclusion Criteria

• dementia
• other current or previous neurological or current psychiatric diseases
• alcohol or drug abuse
• MRI contraindication (e.g., magnetic metal, pacemaker, claustrophobia

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: CROSSOVER

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
anodal tDCS	tDCS	anodal tDCS will be administered for 20 minutes with 1 milliampere (1 mA) to the left inferior frontal gyrus
sham tDCS	tDCS	sham tDCS will be administered to the left inferior frontal gyrus

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Number of correct responses during word-generation tasks (max. 60)	Change in number of correct responses between Assessment 1 (week 1) and Assessment 2 (week 2), assessments 1 and 2 are seperated by one week	Subjects are assessed in a cross-over design. The primary outcome measure will be assessed twice in each subject, either during sham stimulation or active stimulation with transcranial direct current stimulation. Order of stimulation (sham, atDCS or atDCS, sham) will be counterbalanced across the group. The study design has been described in detail before (Meinzer et al., 2012, Journal of Neuroscience, 32:1859 -1866).

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Neural activity during word-generation task assessed by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)	Change in fMRI activity between Assessment 1 (week 1) and Assessment 2 (week 2), assessments 1 and 2 are seperated by one week

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Charite University Medicine, Department of Neurology; 🇩🇪 Berlin, Germany