Effects of PFC tDCS on Cognitive Control, Attention Lapses and Coordinated Neural Activity in the Theta and Alpha Bands

University of California (UC) Davis

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Healthy

Treatments: Device: Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04885322

1344169-8

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of this study is to better understand the neural correlates of higher-order cognition, both in the healthy brain and in schizophrenia, and to determine how these mechanisms are modulated by transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) at frontal and occipital scalp sites. Testing the effects of tDCS at these scalp sites on cognitive task performance will help us understand the roles of the brain regions corresponding to these sites during higher-order cognitive processing (language comprehension, cognitive control, and related attention and memory processes). Behavioral and electrophysiological (EEG) measures will be used to assess cognitive performance. Our overarching hypothesis is that stimulating prefrontal circuits with tDCS can improve cognitive control performance, and ultimately performance on a range of cognitive tasks, as compared to stimulating a different cortical region (occipital cortex) or using sham stimulation.

This study is solely intended as basic research in order to understand brain function in healthy individuals and individuals with schizophrenia. This study is not intended to diagnose, cure or treat schizophrenia or any other disease.

Enrollment: 75 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 50 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• between ages of 18 and 50
• ability to sufficiently speak and understand English so as to be able to understand and complete cognitive tasks
• ability to give valid informed consent

Exclusion criteria

• no history of head trauma
• no current or previous history of treatment with psychotropic medication
• corrected vision 20/30 or better
• tDCS/MRI contraindications, including: pregnancy, ferrous metal in any part of the body, serious medical conditions, claustrophobia, metallic implants, skin damage, conditions such as eczema at electrode sites, cranial pathologies

Trial design

Primary purpose: Basic Science

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Crossover Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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75 participants in 3 patient groups

DLPFC Stimulation

Experimental group

Description:

Intervention. 20 minutes of 2 mA direct current stimulation over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.

Treatment:

Device: Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation

Occipital Stimulation

Experimental group

Description:

Intervention. 20 minutes of 2 mA direct current stimulation over the occipital cortex.

Treatment:

Device: Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation

Sham Stimulation

Sham Comparator group

Description:

Placebo Comparator. 0.5-1 minutes of 2 mA direct current stimulation over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex followed by 19-19.5 minutes of sham stimulation

Treatment:

Device: Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation