Augmenting Exposure Therapy for Social Anxiety With Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation

University of Nevada, Reno

Status: Terminated

Conditions: Social Anxiety

Treatments: Behavioral: exposure therapy; Device: transcranial direct current stimulation

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03743571

1222479-2

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study will examine whether transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can be used to improve outcomes from exposure therapy for social anxiety disorder, and facilitate extinction of fear responding toward individuals outside one's own ethnic group (i.e., ethnic out-group members).

Full description

Although exposure therapy is among the most powerful treatment techniques for social anxiety, many individuals do not achieve full remission. Furthermore, some research suggests that fear responding toward ethnic out-group members may be more resistant to extinction. Enhancing activation of the mPFC during exposure therapy may improve overall response to treatment, and also facilitate extinction of fear toward ethic out-groups. Researchers have found that greater mPFC activation during exposure therapy is associated with better outcomes, and that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can be used enhance learning and cognition with no known serious adverse effects. This study will therefore examine whether active/anodal (versus sham) tDCS targeting the mPFC (a) enhances overall reductions in social anxiety symptoms, and (b) facilitates extinction of fear responding toward ethnic/racial out-groups for both Latino and Caucasian/non-Latino participants. Participants will receive either active/anodal tDCS or sham tDCS during a brief exposure therapy intervention involving public speaking in a Virtual Reality (VR) environment. The public speaking audience in the VR environment will alternate between audiences that are either matched or unmatched to the participant's ethnicity (in a randomly assigned order). Participants' fear reactivity will be assessed with behavioral, physiological, and subjective measures at baseline, post-treatment, and follow-up.

Enrollment: 33 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Age 18 or older (adult)
• Enrolled in higher education (post-high school)
• Elevated public speaking anxiety as indicated by self-report questions
• NOT currently receiving in exposure therapy for social anxiety

Exclusion criteria

• History of seizure or any other neurological diagnosis
• Has any metal in their skull (plates, steel sutures, etc.)
• Participant is currently taking anti-convulsant, sedative/hypnotic, or antipsychotic medications
• Participant is pregnant
• Participant has already participated in a prior tDCS/tACS study on the same day as study visit 1 (which will involve either placebo or active/anodal tDCS stimulation)

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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33 participants in 2 patient groups

anodal tDCS during exposure

Active Comparator group

Description:

anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (2mA) will be applied over EEG coordinate FpZ to target mPFC activation during exposure therapy

Treatment:

Device: transcranial direct current stimulation

Behavioral: exposure therapy

sham tDCS during exposure

Sham Comparator group

Description:

sham transcranial direct current stimulation will be applied over EEG coordinate FpZ during exposure therapy at a level that provides the physical sensations of tDCS but which is non-therapeutic

Treatment:

Device: transcranial direct current stimulation

Behavioral: exposure therapy