Transcranial Stimulation Combined With Auditory Training

Boston University Charles River Campus

Status: Not yet enrolling

Conditions: Difficulties Understanding Speech in Noise

Treatments: Device: Transcranial current stimulation; Behavioral: Auditory training

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; NIH

Identifiers

NCT06738030

7799E

R21DC021763 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if non-invasive brain stimulation (called transcranial stimulation) can enhance the benefits from auditory training in people who struggle to understand one talker when many people are talking at the same time. The main questions it aims to answer are:

• Does transcranial stimulation improve speech-on-speech understanding in people who struggle with this task?
• Does transcranial stimulation enhance the benefits of a commercially available auditory training program?

Researchers will compare transcranial stimulation to sham stimulation (no stimulation is applied during the listening task).

Participants will:

• Receive login information to an online auditory training program to complete at home over 2 weeks
• Visit the laboratory 4 times to receive transcranial stimulation while listening to speech-on-speech: once before at-home training, two times during the at-home training period, and once after at-home training has ended

Enrollment: 94 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 50+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• 50 years of age or older
• Audiometric thresholds that do not exceed 90 dB HL at any frequency from 250-6000 Hz
• Able to provide informed consent and understand experimental instructions
• Able to read print on a computer screen
• Difficulty with speech-on-speech understanding
• Access to computer or mobile phone with access to internet that can play sound (for the at-home training)

Exclusion criteria

• Non-native speakers of English
• History of skull fracture, scalp tissue damage, metallic implants around the head, seizures, neurological disorders, or traumatic brain injury, current or suspected pregnancy

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

---

94 participants in 2 patient groups

Active transcranial stimulation

Experimental group

Description:

This group will receive active transcranial alternating current stimulation that matches the envelope of the target speech.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Auditory training

Device: Transcranial current stimulation

Sham stimulation

Sham Comparator group

Description:

This group will receive transcranial stimulation that ramps on and off before the speech is presented.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Auditory training