Investigating Memory in Healthy Subjects Using Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Healthy Adults
• Interventions: Device: tDCS

• Registration Number: NCT03564353
• Lead Sponsor: The University of Texas at Dallas

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether we can improve associative memory performance in healthy subjects, by applying transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) during a verbal paired-associate learning task

Detailed Description

Associative memory refers to remembering the association between two items, such as a face and a name or a word in English and the same word in another language. It is not only important for learning, but it is also one of the first aspects of memory performance that is impacted by aging and by Alzheimer's disease. For decades, neuroscientists have investigated associative learning and memory and ways to accelerate and enhance associative learning and memory.

Transcranial Direct Current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive and painless electrical stimulation technique that has demonstrated to accelerate learning and improve memory in some studies. To investigate whether it is possible to improve associative memory using tDCS, the performance in a Verbal Paired-Associate memory task of 4 groups targeting different areas will be compared.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2018-06-07
• Study First Submitted: 2018-06-10
• Study First Submitted QC: 2018-06-10
• Study First Posted: 2018-06-20
• Results First Submitted: 2020-04-22
• Results First Submitted QC: 2020-08-24
• Results First Posted: 2020-09-11
• Status Verified: 2022-01
• Primary Completion: 2022-01-25
• Study Completion: 2022-01-25
• Last Update Submitted: 2022-01-27
• Last Update Posted: 2022-02-03

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 40

Inclusion Criteria

• Age: 18-35 years
• Native English Speaker

Exclusion Criteria

• History of severe head injuries, epileptic insults, or heart disease.
• Severe psychiatric disorders and severe untreated medical problems.
• acquainted with the foreign language used in the learning task
• Contraindications for tDCS (pregnant women, implanted devices)

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
memory task with tDCS location 1	tDCS	memory task paired with tDCS targeting C2 nerve (anode left c2; cathode right C2)
memory task with tDCS location 3	tDCS	memory task paired with tDCS targeting C5/6 nerve
memory task with tDCS location 4	tDCS	memory task paired with tDCS targeting trigeminal nerve dermatomes (left and right temple/jaw)
memory task with tDCS location 2	tDCS	memory task paired with tDCS targeting C2 nerve (anode right c2; cathode left C2)

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Associative Memory Assessed by a Verbal Paired-Associate Test	Baseline and 1 week after the tDCS	Participants got the opportunity to learn the list of 75-word pairs across a total of eight alternating study (S) and test (T) periods. Participants came back for a final test session (all 75 words tested) 7 days later and were asked to give the English translations of Swahili words. A score was calaculated based on the percentage of words (English trnaslations) correctly recalled words.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

The University of Texas of Dallas; 🇺🇸 Richardson, Texas, United States