Home-based tDCS for Apathy in Alzheimer's Disease

The University of Texas System (UT)

Status

Terminated

Conditions

Alzheimer Disease and Related Dementias

Treatments

Device: home-based active tDCS

Device: home-based sham tDCS

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

Identifiers

NCT04855643

HSC-MS-21-0089

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of this study is to assess feasibility, acceptability, and safety of providing tDCS to Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) patients with apathy and to assess the efficacy of tDCS for ADRD-related symptoms, with a primary focus on apathy.

Enrollment

3 patients

Sex

All

Ages

60+ years old

Volunteers

No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Diagnosis of possible or probable ADRD according to the National Institute of Aging - Alzheimer's Association diagnostic criteria
Mild or moderate dementia, as defined by a MMSE score between 14 and 26
Clinically meaningful apathy for at least four weeks, clinically diagnosed according to 2018 Apathy Diagnostic Criteria or defined as Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI-Q) apathy score equal or above 4 (i.e., severity of 'moderate' or greater and caregiver distress 'mild' or greater).
Stable doses of cholinesterase inhibitors, memantine and other psychotropic medications for at least three months.

Exclusion criteria

Unstable medical conditions
History of epilepsy
Metallic objects in the brain
Diagnosis of major depression and/or a score higher than 18 on the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia