Mild Cognitive Impairment
Conditions
Keywords
MCI, Word-retrieval, tDCS, fMRI
Brief summary
The purpose of this study is to determine if non-invasive electrical brain stimulation can improve word-retrieval in Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI).
Detailed description
Previous studies showed that anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (atDCS) can have beneficial effects on word-retrieval in healthy younger and older subjects. The present study aims to extend these findings by assessing whether atDCS can also improve known impairments of word-retrieval in Mild Cognitive Impairment. atDCS will be applied to the left inferior frontal gyrus in a sham controlled cross-over within subjects design. Simultaneous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) will assess underlying neural effects of the stimulation.
Interventions
DEVICEtDCS
anodal tDCS will be delivered with a constant current of 1 mA during resting-state and task-related fMRI and will continue until the end of the word-generation task. For both stimulation conditions (atDCS, sham) the current will be initially increased in a ramp-like fashion over 10 s, eliciting a tingling sensation on the scalp that fades over seconds. During sham stimulation the current will be turned off after 30 s.
Sponsors
German Research Foundation
Charite University, Berlin, Germany
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
CROSSOVER
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
TRIPLE (Subject, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
45 Years to 86 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* right handed * German native speakers * clinical diagnosis of Mild Cognitive Impairment
Exclusion criteria
* dementia * other current or previous neurological or current psychiatric diseases * alcohol or drug abuse * MRI contraindication (e.g., magnetic metal, pacemaker, claustrophobia
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Number of correct responses during word-generation tasks (max. 60) | Change in number of correct responses between Assessment 1 (week 1) and Assessment 2 (week 2), assessments 1 and 2 are seperated by one week | Subjects are assessed in a cross-over design. The primary outcome measure will be assessed twice in each subject, either during sham stimulation or active stimulation with transcranial direct current stimulation. Order of stimulation (sham, atDCS or atDCS, sham) will be counterbalanced across the group. The study design has been described in detail before (Meinzer et al., 2012, Journal of Neuroscience, 32:1859 -1866). |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Neural activity during word-generation task assessed by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) | Change in fMRI activity between Assessment 1 (week 1) and Assessment 2 (week 2), assessments 1 and 2 are seperated by one week |
Countries
Germany
Outcome results
None listed