N/A N=40 Randomized Double-blind Basic Science

Stimulating the Social Brain

Healthy Adults

Bottom Line

View on ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03374631 ↗

Enrolled (actual)

Serious AEs

0.0%

Results posted

Aug 2022

Primary outcome: Primary: Change in General Paranoid Ideation for Active vs. Sham Simulation — 1.60; .73 score on a scale

Study Design & Population

Study type: Interventional
Phase: N/A
Interventions: active anodal tDCS (Device); sham tDCS (Device)
Age: Adult · 18+ yrs
Sex: All
Sponsor: The University of Texas at Dallas
Primary completion: Oct 2020

Outcome Measures

Outcome	Result	p-value
PRIMARY Change in General Paranoid Ideation for Active vs. Sham Simulation	1.60; .73	—
PRIMARY Change in Change in Social Paranoia for Active vs. Sham Simulation	.75; .93	—
SECONDARY Trustworthiness Task Score for Active vs. Sham Stimulation	-.14; -.14	—
SECONDARY Penn Emotion Recognition Test for Active vs. Sham Stimulation	35.05; 35.33	—

Summary

This study investigates whether the way in which individuals process social stimuli can be altered, and specifically, whether feelings of paranoia and suspiciousness can be reduced by stimulating the brain's regulatory regions via transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS).

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

between the ages of 18 ad 35
previous classification as being high in sub-clinical paranoia

Exclusion Criteria

diagnosis of mental illness
use of psychotropic medication
Presence or history of medical, cardiac, or neurological disorders that may affect brain function (e.g., cardiac disease, endocrine disorders, renal disease, pulmonary disease, history of seizures or head trauma with unconsciousness for a period of 15 minutes or greater or CNS tumors)
Presence of sensory limitation including visual (e.g., blindness, glaucoma, vision uncorrectable to 20/40) or hearing (e.g. hearing loss) impairments that interfere with assessment
Not proficient in English
Contraindications for tDCS (e.g., pregnancy or implanted devices such as pace maker)

View full record on ClinicalTrials.gov →

Data sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03374631). Outcome figures and adverse-event rates are extracted automatically from the registry's posted results and are provided for clinician reference, not as a substitute for the primary publication.