Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Offenders

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Risk-Taking; Antisocial Behavior; Aggression
• Interventions: Device: Sham transcranial direct current stimulation; Device: Transcranial direct current stimulation

• Registration Number: NCT03036683
• Lead Sponsor: Olivia Choy

Brief Summary

This study investigates the effect of upregulating prefrontal cortex activity on risk-taking, and antisocial and aggressive behavior in violent offenders. In the double-blind, randomized controlled trial, using a within-subject crossover design, each participant will undergo anodal transcranial direct current stimulation of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and sham stimulation. After each stimulation session, neural activity and behavioral responses to tasks assessing risk-taking and aggressive behavior will be recorded. The effect of tDCS on violent offenders will also be assessed in comparison to age and gender-matched healthy controls.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2017-01-26
• Study First Submitted QC: 2017-01-26
• Study First Posted: 2017-01-30
• Study Start: 2017-02-01
• Primary Completion: 2021-06-01
• Study Completion: 2022-06-01
• Status Verified: 2022-10
• Last Update Submitted: 2022-10-17
• Last Update Posted: 2022-10-18

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: Male
• Target Recruitment: 41

Inclusion Criteria

• Between 18 and 50 years of age
• Able to understand the nature of the study and give informed consent
• Individuals in the violent offender group must have a record of repeated violent criminal offending (at least 2 felonies).
• Individuals in the violent offender group must have been convicted solely due to crimes involving violence motivated by impulsive aggression.

Exclusion Criteria

• Presence of any contraindications for functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
• History of significant medical illness
• History of any neurological condition
• Diagnosis of schizophrenia
• History of epilepsy
• Head injury
• Mental retardation

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: CROSSOVER

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Sham stimulation	Sham transcranial direct current stimulation	The sham tDCS condition will involve the same placement of the electrodes, current intensity, and ramp-up/down time as the active tDCS condition, but stimulation will only last for 30 seconds.
Anodal stimulation	Transcranial direct current stimulation	Participants in the active stimulation group will undergo anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). tDCS will be delivered by a battery-driven, constant-current stimulator connected to two saline-soaked surface sponge electrodes. An anodal electrode (25cm2) will be placed over the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and one cathodal electrode (100cm2) will be placed over the left supraorbital area at least 5cm from the anode. Scalp electrodes will be positioned according to the 10-20 EEG international system. A current of 2mA will be applied for 20 minutes and the current will be ramped up and down over 20 seconds at the beginning and end of the stimulation period.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Number of balloon pumps in the Balloon Analogue Risk Task after stimulation	Within 1 hour after the 20-minute tDCS or sham session ends	The number of balloon pumps, measured by the number of times subjects press a button to pump up a computerized balloon over 60 trials, will be assessed.
Neural activity during Balloon Analogue Risk Task after stimulation	Within 1 hour after the 20-minute tDCS or sham session ends	Functional brain activity and connectivity will be assessed using functional magnetic resonance imaging.
Antisocial behavior inclinations after stimulation	Within 1 hour after the 20-minute tDCS or sham session ends	This will be assessed using 8 hypothetical scenarios in which someone commits a criminal or antisocial act. Participants will respond to the likelihood that they would commit the act in the scenario according to a 10-point Likert scale.
Aggressive behavior after stimulation	Within 1 hour after the 20-minute tDCS or sham session ends	This will be assessed according to performance on the violent video game, Carmageddon: TDR 2000 (Klasen et al., 2013; Torus Games, Bayswater, Australia, 2000) in comparison to a modified non-violent version of the game.
Neural activity during aggression task after stimulation	Within 1 hour after the 20-minute tDCS or sham session ends	Functional brain activity and connectivity during participation in the video game will be assessed using functional magnetic resonance imaging.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Number of participants with adverse events	Within 1 hour after the 20-minute tDCS or sham session ends	The number of participants reporting the experience of sensations resulting from tDCS will be recorded.
Ratings of moral wrongfulness regarding antisocial acts after stimulation	Within 1 hour after the 20-minute tDCS or sham session ends	This will be assessed using 8 hypothetical scenarios in which someone commits a criminal or antisocial act. Participants will rate the moral wrongfulness of the acts according to a 10-point Likert scale.
Ratings of guilt or shame regarding antisocial acts after stimulation	Within 1 hour after the 20-minute tDCS or sham session ends	This will be assessed using 8 hypothetical scenarios in which someone commits a criminal or antisocial act. Participants will respond to the likelihood that they would feel a sense of guilt or shame according to a 10-point Likert scale.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Uniklinik RWTH Aachen; 🇩🇪 Aachen, Germany