Investigating the Cognitive Source of Visual Working Memory Impairment in Schizophrenia

T

Taipei Medical University

Status

Completed

Conditions

Memory Deficits Schizophrenia Neurostimulator; Complications

Treatments

Device: STARSTIM

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

Identifiers

NCT05496413

N202003153

Details and patient eligibility

About

The investigators plan to investigate the effect of enhancement on visual working memory (VWM) in patients of chronic schizophrenia and determine the predictive factors of effective treatment.

Full description

Schizophrenia is a complex neuro-psychiatric disorder that affects a significant portion of total population worldwide. The disease impairs multiple aspects of human cognition, of which visual working memory (VWM) impairment is known to be one of the pivotal cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenic patients. Despite of several attempts that have been made to establish competent treatment strategies to impede cognitive dysfunction of schizophrenia, till date no such studies exhibited satisfactory outcomes. In this context, numbers of studies have been carried out to utilize transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) as a treatment option to enhance working memory deficit in various neuropsychiatric populations, but with very limited success. To this end, the present proposal will focus on the use of transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) to better target the oscillatory mechanisms underlying VWM. Our specific aims are twofold, namely, 1) Does DLPFC tACS work on schizophrenic patients in terms of VWM improvement, and 2) how is tACS facilitating patients' VWM? This is because VWM deficit can be caused by poor encoding, poor maintenance, or poor retrieval (or any combination between them). Failure at any of those steps will make the patients appear to have poor VWM from clinical observation, but the cognitive process that is impaired may not be the same across populations.

Trial design

Primary purpose

Treatment

Allocation

Randomized

Interventional model

Crossover Assignment

Masking

Double Blind

31 participants in 2 patient groups

Active comparator Within group

Experimental group

Description:

This project will use the StarStim DC stimulator manufactured by Neuroelectrics that was imported with TFDA approval. At the beginning, the participants would be allowed to perform the task which would be followed by application of tACS. The tACS application would be comprised of sham vs active where the sham condition would be given for 30 seconds while the active session would be applied for 15 mins. In tACS, 1mA of theta (6Hz) tACS would be given at the right F4 and P4 electrodes (5\*5 cm2, Sponstim® 25). After tACS, the participants would be asked to perform the same task again and the scores (before and after tACS) will be compared and analyzed statistically. Therefore, each patient will need to participate in 2 sessions (active vs. sham), and they will not know which day is which (randomized order).

Treatment:

Device: STARSTIM

Sham comparator Within group

Sham Comparator group

Description:

This project will use the StarStim DC stimulator manufactured by Neuroelectrics that was imported with TFDA approval. At the beginning, the participants would be allowed to perform the task which would be followed by application of tACS. The tACS application would be comprised of sham vs active where the sham condition would be given for 30 seconds while the active session would be applied for 15 mins. In tACS, 1mA of theta (6Hz) tACS would be given at the right F4 and P4 electrodes (5\*5 cm2, Sponstim® 25). After tACS, the participants would be asked to perform the same task again and the scores (before and after tACS) will be compared and analyzed statistically. Therefore, each patient will need to participate in 2 sessions (active vs. sham), and they will not know which day is which (randomized order).

Treatment:

Device: STARSTIM

Trial contacts and locations

1

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