Investigating Accelerated Learning in Healthy Subjects

The University of Texas System (UT)

Status: Withdrawn

Conditions: Healthy Adults

Treatments: Behavioral: Verbal paired-associate learning task; Device: tDCS

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03055884

17-34

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether it is possible to accelerate learning and improve associative memory performance in healthy subjects, by (1) applying transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) during a verbal paired-associate learning task and by (2) optimizing the learning method with repeated retrieval practice.

Full description

Associative memory refers to remembering the association between two items, such as a face and a name or a word in English and the same word in another language. It is not only important for learning, but it is also one of the first aspects of memory performance that is impacted by aging and by Alzheimer׳s disease. For decades, neuroscientists have investigated associative learning and memory and ways to accelerate and enhance associative learning and memory.

Transcranial Direct Current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive and painless electrical stimulation technique that has demonstrated to accelerate learning and improve memory in some studies. Previous research has also emphasized the importance of repeated retrieval practice as a way to accelerate learning and enhance associative memory performance. Therefore, this study will examine the effect of repeated retrieval practice on associative memory performance by using two versions of an associative memory task.

To investigate whether it is possible to accelerate learning and improve associative memory using tDCS and repeated retrieval practice, the performance in a Verbal Paired-Associate memory task during the first visit and 1 week after will be compared for four study groups. The first group will get active tDCS during a version of the verbal paired-associate learning task with repeated retrieval practice. The second group will get active tDCS during a version of the verbal paired-associate learning task without repeated retrieval practice. The third group will get sham tDCS during a version of the verbal paired-associate learning task with repeated retrieval practice and the fourth group will get Sham tDCS during a version of the verbal paired-associate learning task without repeated retrieval practice.

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 35 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Age: 18-35 years
• Native English Speaker

Exclusion criteria

• History of severe head injuries,epileptic insults, or heart disease
• Severe psychiatric disorders and severe untreated medical problems.
• Acquainted with the foreign language used in the learning task
• Contraindications for tDCS (pregnant women, implanted devices)

Trial design

Primary purpose: Basic Science

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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0 participants in 4 patient groups

active tDCS with repeated retrieval practice

Experimental group

Description:

active tDCS with verbal paired-associate learning task with repeated retrieval practice

Treatment:

Device: tDCS

Behavioral: Verbal paired-associate learning task

active tDCS without repeated retrieval practice

Experimental group

Description:

active tDCS with verbal paired-associate learning task without repeated retrieval practice

Treatment:

Device: tDCS

Behavioral: Verbal paired-associate learning task

Sham tDCS with repeated retrieval practice

Sham Comparator group

Description:

sham tDCS with verbal paired-associate learning task with repeated retrieval practice

Treatment:

Behavioral: Verbal paired-associate learning task

Sham tDCS without repeated retrieval practice

Sham Comparator group

Description:

shamtDCS with verbal paired-associate learning task without repeated retrieval practice

Treatment:

Behavioral: Verbal paired-associate learning task