Improving Cognitive Aptitudes With tDCS in Patients With Multiple Sclerosis

Improving Cognitive Aptitudes With tDCS in Patients With Multiple Sclerosis / Améliorer Les capacités Cognitives Par tDCS Chez Les Patients Souffrants de sclérose en Plaques

Status

Terminated

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT02266121

Acronym

MScog-tDCS

Enrollment

100

Registered

2014-10-16

Start date

2014-10-31

Completion date

2023-05-08

Last updated

2023-05-09

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

Conditions

Cognitive Deficits, Motor Deficits, Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis, Secondary-progressive Multiple Sclerosis

Keywords

Multiple Sclerosis, MS, Cognitive deficits, Motor deficits, Fatigue, Nervous System Diseases, Brain Diseases, Brain stimulation, Working memory, Motor learning, Central Nervous System Diseases, Neuropsychological rehabilitation

Brief summary

Noninvasive brain stimulations (NIBS) will be used in MS patients with cognitive impairments to enhance their cognitive aptitudes.

Detailed description

tDCS will be used in a sham-controlled, double-blind, randomized, cross-over control trial in MS patients suffering from cognitive impairments and/or motor deficits. After informed consent and recruitment, patients will be randomly (computer method) allocated to real or sham tDCS, that will be applied during working memory and attentional tasks. A few days/weeks after completing one arm, the patients will enter the other arm (double-blind cross-over design). Baseline and follow-up outcomes about cognitive aptitudes, motor tasks and fatigue will be collected.

Interventions

DEVICEtDCS

Device: transcranial direct current stimulation tDCS tdcs (ELDITH, Neuroconn, Ilmenau, Germany)

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

CROSSOVER

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

QUADRUPLE (Subject, Caregiver, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to 65 Years

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

* MS patients with relapsing remitting MS/secondary progression MS (based on the 2010 revised McDonald criteria) * Cognitive deficits * Motor deficits

Exclusion criteria

* contraindication to tDCS (seizure or epilepsy, metal in the head, …) * major psychiatric conditions or major depression * coexisting instable medical condition * substance or alcohol abuse * regular intake of drug that strongly modulate brain excitability * major sequels from MS preventing participation in the study * pregnancy

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Enhancement of Cognitive aptitudes with tDCS	from baseline to 4 weeks after the intervention	The effect of intervention on attentional, working memory and executive function deficits will be quantified by means of validated tests before and after intervention.

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Enhancement of Motor skills with tDCS	from baseline to 4 weeks after the intervention	Performance on motor skill learning tasks and on different commonly used tasks (Purdue Pegboard, hand dynamometer, pinch dynamometer, 9-HPT, motor skill learning with a videogame, ...) will be measured to explore the impact of tDCS on these parameters in MS patients' population.
Impact on Fatigue and Enhancement of Cognitive performances with tDCS	from baseline to 4 weeks after the intervention	The effect of intervention on fatigue and performances on the cognitive tasks will be quantified by means of validated questionnaires at inclusion and after tDCS.

Countries

Belgium

Outcome results

None listed

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