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N/A N=5 Randomized Triple-blind Treatment

Treating Civilian Traumatic Brain Injury With High Definition Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (ciTBI-HDtDCS)

Traumatic Brain Injury · Word Finding Difficulty · Acquired Brain Injury · Cognitive Change

Enrolled (actual)
5
Serious AEs
0.0%
Results posted
Feb 2026
Primary outcome: Primary: The Controlled Oral Word Association Test — 30.67; 30.5; 33.33; 35 Total items

Study Design & Population

Study type
Interventional
Phase
N/A
Interventions
Active Transcranial direct current stimulation (Device); Sham Transcranial direct current stimulation (Device)
Age
Adult, Older Adult · 18+ yrs
Sex
All
Sponsor
The University of Texas at Dallas
Primary completion
Nov 2024

Outcome Measures

OutcomeResultp-value
PRIMARY
The Controlled Oral Word Association Test
30.67; 30.5; 33.33; 35; 34.67; 39.5
PRIMARY
Category Fluency
18; 17; 17.67; 24.5; 20; 22.5
PRIMARY
The Boston Naming Test
26.67; 28; 27; 29.5; 27.33; 28.5
PRIMARY
Semantic Object Retrieval Test
30.33; 30.5; 31.33; 31.5; 30.67; 31
PRIMARY
The Delis Kaplan Color Word Interference Test, Naming
35.66666667; 41; 32.66666667; 31; 31.66666667; 34.5
PRIMARY
The Delis Kaplan Color Word Interference Test, Reading
26; 27.5; 24; 24; 25.66666667; 25.5
PRIMARY
The Delis Kaplan Color Word Interference Test, Inhibition
57; 71.5; 46; 64; 53; 58.5
PRIMARY
The Delis Kaplan Color Word Interference Test, Inhibition and Switching
71.33333333; 75; 72; 58; 75.33333333; 56.5
PRIMARY
Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test and Alternative Lists, Total Learning
40.66666667; 48.5; 39.33333333; 57; 43.66666667; 58
PRIMARY
Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test and Alternative Lists, Delayed Recall
7.333333333; 9.5; 6; 12; 8.666666667; 13.5
SECONDARY
The Trail Making Test - Part A
37.66666667; 41.5; 27.66666667; 26.5; 28; 27
SECONDARY
The Trail Making Test - Part B
68.66666667; 101; 63.66666667; 52.5; 57.66666667; 63.5
SECONDARY
Digit Span Forward
0.933333333; 0.4; 0.3; -0.085; -0.34; -0.1
SECONDARY
Digit Span Backward
0.2; 0.7; -0.933333333; 1.525; 0.44; 0.25
SECONDARY
Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test - Delayed Recall
15.16666667; 25.5; 18.5; 28; 18; 32.5
SECONDARY
The Digit Symbol Substitution Test
45; 45.5; 45.33333333; 58; 47.66666667; 58.5

Summary

The purpose of the study is to test whether low level electric stimulation, called transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS), on the part of the brain (i.e., pre-supplementary motor area) thought to aid in memory will improve verbal retrieval in civilian (non-military, non-veteran) participants with histories of traumatic brain injuries. The primary outcome measures are neuropsychological assessments of verbal retrieval, and the secondary measures are neuropsychological assessments of other cognitive abilities and electroencephalography (EEG) measures. Additionally, the study will examine the degree to which baseline assessments of cognition, concussion history, structural brain imaging, and EEG predict responses to treatment over time, both on assessments administered within the intervention period and at follow-up.

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria: Participants are to be between the ages of 18-85, are non-military personnel and not veterans, and have had a traumatic brain injury (more than a year ago prior to study participation) that has led to a complaint of word finding difficulty since the brain injury, confirmed to represent a verbal retrieval deficit based on neuropsychological testing criteria. Traumatic brain injury must be in the mild to moderate range based on evaluation, including the Ohio State TBI Identification Method (administered by our research group). You must be fluent in speaking and reading English.

Exclusion Criteria

  • an implanted/electronic device, such as a pacemaker, metallic cranial or intracranial implant (e.g., ventriculoperitoneal shunt), or a neurostimulator (e.g., vagus nerve stimulator, spinal stimulator, deep brain stimulator, etc.).
  • skull defects
  • a history of a psychological or neurological disorder, including, dementia of any type, epilepsy or other seizure disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, brain tumor, present drug abuse, stroke, blood vessel abnormalities in the brain, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, or multiple sclerosis.
  • inability to give informed consent
  • currently pregnant
  • not a native English speaker
View full record on ClinicalTrials.gov →

Data sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05408975). 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.

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