N/A
Completed N=251
Effect of Noninvasive Electrical Brain Stimulation on Memory at Different Times of Day in Younger and Older Adults
Effect of tDCS on Memory in Older and Younger Adults
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03723850 ↗
Enrolled (actual)
251
Serious AEs
0.0%
Results posted
May 2024
Primary outcomePrimary: Episodic Memory Performance — 0.34; 0.32; 0.46; 0.50 proportion of items
Summary
This study will investigate the extent to which tDCS to dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (or dlPFC) impacts memory performance as a function of time-of-day in younger and older adults.
Outcome Measures
| Outcome | Result | p-value |
|---|---|---|
| PRIMARY Episodic Memory Performance |
0.34; 0.32; 0.46; 0.50; 0.49 | — |
| SECONDARY Working Memory Performance |
0.60; 0.60; 0.60; 0.58; 0.60 | — |
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria
- Right-handed (according to the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory)
- Normal or corrected vision
- Fluent in English (started learning by age 6)
- Ability to understand and provide informed consent for study procedures, and to comply - with study procedures for the entire length of the study.
- For individuals in the 'younger adults' group, must be between 18 and 30 years of age
- For individuals in the 'older adults' group, must be between 60 and 75 years of age
- A score of 23 or above on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (out of 30, education-corrected) is required. This is to minimize the inclusion of suspected mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia, targeting individuals that score in the normal range according to the recent meta-analysis of MoCA's ability to differentiate normal aging from MCI in Carson et al. (2018, Int. J of Geriatric Psychiatry).
- Performance above threshold on the episodic memory task during the baseline session. The threshold is defined as having a hit rate that is at least 5% greater than the false alarm rate, where hit rate is defined as the number of studied items identified as studied, divided by the total number of studied items, and false alarm rate is defined as the number of new items identified as studied, divided by the total number of new items. We don't anticipate this threshold to exclude many, if any subjects.
Exclusion Criteria
- Neuropsychological conditions associated with cognitive decline or seizure
- Cochlear implants or metal in the brain/skull (except titanium)
- Psychoactive medications, or diagnosis of depression, bipolar disorder, or any psychotic diagnoses
- History of excessive use (clinically treated) alcohol or narcotics
- Hospitalization for head trauma (e.g. concussions) in the past 5 years
- Individuals above a threshold score on an assessment of depression, specifically, a score of 10 or above on the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9)(Manea et al., 2012)
- Risk of pregnancy
- Low tolerance of skin irritation
- Prior brain stimulation experience (self-report)
- Ongoing cognitive or sensory deficits/symptoms from a previous (or current) COVID-19 infection.
Data sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03723850). 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. Informational only — not medical advice.