tDCS as Treatment for Motor Function (PSP)

Baycrest

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Cortical Basal Ganglionic Degeneration; Parkinson Disease; Progressive Supranuclear Palsy

Treatments: Device: Transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS); Device: Stimulation Arm

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT07291687

21-17

Details and patient eligibility

About

Previous preliminary results are sufficiently impressive to suggest that tDCS stimulation does have the potential to improve motor function when that ability is trained during stimulation. In the proposed study, the investigation will assess whether walking sessions combined with tDCS lead to improvements in motor function: gait, articulation, eye gaze, and motor dexterity. In addition, the investigators wish to examine if such results can be replicated in people with other conditions, such as cortical basal syndrome, and Parkinson's disease.

Full description

Previous preliminary results are sufficiently impressive to suggest that tDCS stimulation does have the potential to improve motor function when that ability is trained during stimulation. In the proposed study, the investigators will assess whether walking sessions combined with tDCS lead to improvements in motor function: gait, articulation, eye gaze, and motor dexterity. In addition, the investigators wish to examine if such results can be replicated in people with other conditions, such as cortical basal syndrome, and Parkinson's disease. The rationale for including people living with these conditions is the overlap in motor and cortical network dysfunction observed across these disorders. All three conditions involve impairment of motor initiation, gait, coordination, and executive motor control due to degeneration in frontal-subcortical pathways. This extension will also allow for comparison of stimulation responsiveness across related diagnostic groups and provide insight into disease-specific factors influencing motor recovery potential.

Previous tDCS studies have found significant results with sample sizes between 10-20 participants for a two-round study comparing training sessions with real tDCS versus sessions done without tDCS. However, the investigators plan to recruit 30 participants living with each condition as this will allow us to examine results per group, but also how the individual groups compare.

Enrollment: 20 estimated patients

Sex: All

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

- 1. Participants must be able to walk unassisted, or with the assistance of a walker or cane, and be individuals who walk daily.

2. Participants should have a sufficient level of English to be able to express themselves verbally, be able to read and follow instructions.

Exclusion criteria

• 3. Individuals with metal implants within the brain such as shunts will be excluded.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Crossover Assignment

Masking: Triple Blind

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20 participants in 2 patient groups, including a placebo group

Real tDCS Stimulation:

Experimental group

Description:

Participants will be exposed to 20 min of tDCS brain stimulation while undergoing training on cognitive tasks.

Treatment:

Device: Transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS)

Sham Arm

Placebo Comparator group

Description:

Participants will be exposed to 20 min of tDCS sham/placebo stimulation while undergoing training on cognitive tasks. Participants will have the exact same apparatus used but with no stimulation.

Treatment:

Device: Stimulation Arm