Mood disorders, anxiety disorders, trait anxiety Mental and Behavioural Disorders Mood disorders, anxiety disorders, trait anxiety
Conditions
Interventions
Participants are randomised into two arms using a list generated by an Excel spreadsheet of randomly generated numbers between 0 and 1, where numbers below 0.5 represent the sham-active order and numb
however, the order in which they do is randomised. Double-blinding is achieved using a study mode on the tDCS (transcranial direct current stimulation) device with blinding codes assigned by a party n
Sponsors
University of Oxford
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
Female
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria: 1. Aged 18-45 years old 2. Female 3. Willing and able to provide informed consent 4. Healthy 5. Right-handed 6. Normal range on trait anxiety (based on State-Trait Anxiety Index (STAI) pre-screening online anxiety questionnaire) 7. Fluent in English
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria: 1. Current significant medical condition 2. Current or past psychological disorder (e.g. depression, anorexia) 3. Any family history of extreme mood fluctuations (e.g. elated mood states) 4. Current medications (except for contraceptive treatment) or herbal remedies such as St John's wort 5. Current pregnancy or likelihood of becoming pregnant during the study 6. Participation in any other psychological or medical experiment involving taking any kind of drugs, within the last 3 months 7. Previous participation in a brain stimulation study will be taken into account and advice will be sought from the secondary supervisor on whether they should be included, based on the type of stimulation received, the location of the stimulation and the number of sessions. If the secondary supervisor advises that the nature of the stimulation previously received could affect the results of this study, the participant will not be included 8. Any other contraindication to magnetic resonance imaging or transcranial current stimulation 9. Claustrophobic 10. Metal within the body: 10.1. Pacemaker 10.2. Mechanical heart valve 10.3. Mechanical implant (e.g. aneurysm clip) 10.4. Hip replacement 10.5. Any other pieces of metal that have accidentally entered the body
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| The change in neural activity during an attentional control task after sham and active tDCS, assessed using blood oxygenation level dependent-response measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging, taken after each tDCS treatment (sham and active). The time period between each measurement is no less than 30 days and no more than 60 days. | — |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| The following were measured after active and sham tDCS treatment (the time period between measurements is no less than 30 days and no more than 60 days): 1. Change in accuracy in the attentional control task, assessed by comparing the behavioural test results (accuracy in task) after active and sham tDCS 2. Change in reaction time in the attentional control task, assessed by comparing the behavioural test results (mean reaction time in milliseconds in task) after active and sham tDCS 3. Difference in anxiety symptoms, assessed by the change in self-reported anxiety scores using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) after active and sham tDCS 4. Change in sadness and happiness, assessed by the change in self-reported visual analogue scale (VAS) ("sad" indicated by 0 and "happy" indicated by 100) after active and sham tDCS 5. Difference in hostility and friendliness, assessed by the change in self-reported visual analogue scale (VAS) ("hostile" indicated by 0 and "friendly" indicated by 100) after active and sham tDCS 6. Difference in calmness/tenseness, assessed by the change in self-reported visual analogue scale (VAS) ("calm" indicated by 0 and "tense" indicated by 100) after active and sham tDCS | — |
Countries
England, United Kingdom
Contacts
Public ContactMaria Ironside
Outcome results
None listed