Healthy Older Adults
Conditions
Keywords
tDCS effects, associative learning
Brief summary
The aim of this study is to investigate whether a tDCS-accompanied training of audio-visual associative memory leads to a performance improvement in healthy older individuals.
Interventions
DEVICEtDCS
BEHAVIORALtraining
Sponsors
Charite University, Berlin, Germany
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
CROSSOVER
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
66 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Age: old-retired (≥66 years). * Right handedness * unobtrusive neuropsychological screening
Exclusion criteria
* Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or other neurological diseases. * History of severe alcoholism or use of drugs. * Severe psychiatric disorders such as depression, psychosis (if not in remission) and severe untreated medical problems. * Contraindication for MRI (claustrophobia, metallic implants, ferromagnetic metals in the body, disorders of thermoregulation, pregnant women)
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Performance in a verbal associative learning paradigm under anodal tDCS compared to sham tDCS. | Performance is assessed within 1 day immediately after training period (several learning blocks) compared to sham | Investigation whether anodal tDCS leads to improved performance accuracy in the Wernicko task compared to sham stimulation. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Functional connectivity predictors | assessed during baseline testing | Connectivity as measured by resting-state fMRI during baseline as predictors for performance and tDCS responsiveness |
| Structural predictors | assessed during baseline testing | Microstructure of white matter (Fractional Anisotropy) as measured by diffusion tensor imaging during baseline as predictors for performance and tDCS responsiveness |
| Genotyping of learning related polymorphisms | assessed during baseline screening | To assess predictors of positive reaction to brain stimulation, genotyping of several learning related polymorphisms will be performed. |
| Other cognitive outcomes: Attention performance | Performance is assessed within 1 day before and after tDCS + training compared to sham | Digit span forward performance assessed before and after stimulation to test for tDCS effects on attention |
| Other cognitive outcomes: working memory | Performance is assessed within 1 day before and after tDCS + training compared to sham | Digit span backwards performance assessed before and after stimulation to test for tDCS effects on working memory |
Countries
Germany
Outcome results
None listed