A Novel Neurorehabilitation Approach for Cognitive Aging With HIV

Not Applicable

Completed

Brief Summary: The goal of this study is to conduct a small, self-contained project to test the hypothesis that tDCS will augment SOP cognitive remediation therapy (CRT) in older HIV+ adults. The investigators will randomly assign 60 HIV+ older adults (i.e., ≥ 50 years old) to 10-hours in either a SOP CRT + sham tDCS condition (n=30) or SOP CRT + active tDCS condition (n=30) and examine neurocognitive functioning at baseline and 6 weeks post-intervention. Hypothesis 1: The SOP CRT + active tDCS condition will show larger proximal (i.e., SOP) gains than the SOP CRT + sham tDCS condition. Hypothesis 2: The active tDCS condition will demonstrate generalization to secondary neurocognitive domains compared to the sham tDCS condition.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria

Exclusion Criteria

Not homeless
Not blind or deaf
No significant neuromedical issues (e.g., schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, stroke, epilepsy or history of seizures)
No pacemaker or other biomedical devices or metal implants
No untreated hypertension
Not undergoing chemo or radiation
No head injury with LOC greater than 30 mins

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Sham tDCS + Cognitive Remediation	transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)	Subjects in the sham arm will be administered sham transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) (i.e., tDCS will be administered for 30 seconds and then will automatically turn off). Sham group will have identical intervention of engagement in 10 1-hour computerized cognitive remediation therapy sessions during sham tDCS as with the active tDCS condition.
Active tDCS + Cognitive Remediation	transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)	Subjects in the active arm will be administered active transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) (i.e., 2.0 mA tDCS will be administered for 20 minutes and then will automatically turn off). Active group will have identical intervention engagement in 10 1-hour computerized cognitive remediation therapy sessions during active tDCS as with the sham tDCS condition.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in the Processing of Speed	baseline, 6 week posttest	Computerized and paper \& pencil processing speed measures were used to evaluate this outcome. The Letter and Pattern Comparison Tasks are traditional paper and pencil (SOP) measures. Specifically, they assess perceptual speed. In Letter Comparison subjects are shown three sets of 32 pairs of letters containing 3, 6, or 9 segments. The participants are instructed to decide whether the patterns between the pairs are the same or different within each set, with a time limit of 20 sec per set. Pattern Comparison also presents three sets of 32 pairs of patterns with 3, 6, or 9 line segments. Similarly, participants are instructed to decide whether the patterns are the same or different within the 20 sec time limit. For each measure, the total score is the number of correct answers from all three sets. Larger scores indicate better reasoning and cognitive functioning. In this study scores from Letter and Pattern Comparison were combined for a total Letter/Pattern Score.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in Driving Simulator Performance	baseline, 6 week posttest	Driving Simulator Performance: Center lane crossings (a count of how many times an individual crosses the centerline during the entire simulator drive). A difference score was taken between time 2 and time 1 and compared between treatment groups (sham condition and tDCS condition). A negative difference score indicates that fewer center line crossings were made at time 2 than time 1, while positive difference scores indicate the opposite direction, and scores of 0 represent no change.

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