Effects of Transcranial Electric Stimulation on Associative Memory Formation in Healthy Elderly Participants as Well as in Individuals With Memory Impairment
Overview
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Intervention
- Not specified
- Conditions
- Healthy
- Sponsor
- University of Bern
- Enrollment
- 28
- Locations
- 1
- Primary Endpoint
- Performance on immediate cued recall task
- Status
- Completed
- Last Updated
- 6 years ago
Overview
Brief Summary
Previous studies showed that transcranial electric stimulation (tES) applied over the prefrontal cortex improves cognitive performance in healthy elderly adults as well as in patients suffering from mild cognitive impairment or early Alzheimer's disease. Therefore, tES methods might be a useful intervention tool for patients suffering from memory impairment in early terms of the disease.
The present study aims at establishing a connection between the stimulation-induced changes on associative memory performance and its underlying neurophysiological parameters. tES effects and their underlying mechanisms will be compared between healthy elderly controls and clinical study populations receiving either real or sham tES over the left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex during an associative memory task.
Investigators
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria
- •Written informed consent
- •Non-smokers
- •Right-handedness
- •Native German speakers or comparable level of fluency
- •Normal or corrected-to-normal vision
Exclusion Criteria
- •Neurological or psychiatric condition (other than diagnosed cognitive impairment)
- •Past head injuries
- •Magnetizable implants
- •History of seizures
- •Current or life-time alcohol or drug abuse
- •Skin diseases
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Performance on immediate cued recall task
Time Frame: 20 min
Number of correct responses on retrieval task of previously learned associative memory items
Performance on delayed cued recall task
Time Frame: 24 hours
Number of correct responses on retrieval task of previously learned associative memory items
Secondary Outcomes
- task-dependent BOLD activity(20 min)
- resting-state BOLD activity(10 min)