Determining the Specificity of High Definition Electrical Brain Stimulation Using Simultaneous Magnetoencephalography

Measuring the Stimulated Brain: Determining the Specificity of High Definition Electrical Brain Stimulation Using Simultaneous Magnetoencephalography

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT02060708

Enrollment

Registered

2014-02-12

Start date

2015-01-31

Completion date

2015-06-30

Last updated

2016-04-21

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Auditory Task, Motor Task, Real HD-tDCS, Sham HD-tDCS, Visual Task, Working Memory Task

Brief summary

Non-invasive human brain stimulation using weak transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS) has been thousands of times in research studies over the past fifteen years as a therapy to help improve the effectiveness of repeated training sessions (e.g., hand exercises in the context of daily physiotherapy), due to its safety, tolerability, convenience and cost-effectiveness. tDCS works by temporarily enhancing brain activity during performance of a specific task, helping with learning and training. The investigators will use magnetoencephalography (MEG) brain imaging to view the real-time effects of high definition (HD) tDCS on several brain areas involved in vision, hearing, movement, and memory. The investigators hypothesize that changing the task (auditory, visual or memory task) but keeping the position of the electrodes over the motor cortex will result in modulation of brain activity in only the central target motor area, and not on non-target temporal, occipital or pre-frontal areas.

Interventions

DEVICEHD-tDCS

HD-tDCS non-invasive brain stimulation using this same device (Soterix) has been designated a 'non-significant risk' by the US FDA.

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

CROSSOVER

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

TRIPLE (Subject, Caregiver, Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to 35 Years

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

* Normal hearing and vision

Exclusion criteria

* Current pregnancy * Presence of metallic implants in the head * Use of any medications * Any history of mental health or neurological conditions * Inability to perform any of the tasks for any reason

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Change from baseline in brain activity	Immediate (20 minutes)	Assessment of changes in brain activity will be done using both event-related and frequency domain beam former localization.

Countries

Canada

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026