Mild Cognitive Impairment
Conditions
Keywords
tDCS, Mild Cognitive Impairment, fMRI, Healthy ageing
Brief summary
Healthy ageing and pathological ageing in the context of a neurodegenerative disease are both associated with changes in brain network integrity. Episodic memory is especially affected in Alzheimer's disease, but is also decreased in healthy ageing. Consequently, the memory-relevant brain networks are especially altered. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has previously been implemented in different clinical- and non-clinical settings and has shown to beneficially influence network connectivity. The neural correlates of single-session tDCS have been investigated, however, the neural effects of repeated tDCS remain unknown. Furthermore, knowledge about the (long-term) neural mechanisms of repeated tDCS can give valuable insights and possibly pave the ground for exploring tDCS as a treatment option in future studies.
Interventions
DEVICEactive tDCS
Participants will receive active tDCS over the angular gyrus on five consecutive days
DEVICEsham tDCS
Participants will receive sham tDCS over the angular gyrus on five consecutive days
Sponsors
Maastricht University Medical Center
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
DOUBLE (Subject, Investigator)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
60 Years to 85 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Patients * Diagnosis of MCI based on the latest research criteria (clinical assessment at the memory clinic (prof. Frans RJ Verhey): presence of at least a memory impairment, memory complaints expressed by the patient or informant, no problems in daily life functioning, no dementia and presence of biomarkers (Albert et al., 2011) * Clinical Dementia Rating score of 0.5 (CDR distinguishes a stage of questionable dementia (CDR 0.5) from people termed healthy (CDR 0) and those with mild dementia (CDR 1) * Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) 23 and being mentally competent (in general, individuals with a MMSE 18 are considered mentally competent) * Age: between 60 and 85 years old * 50% female * Right-handedness * Average level of education (CBS level 3-4-5-6) Healthy controls * Average neuropsychological test results, in accordance with normative data, corrected for age, education and gender * No substantial memory complaints (according to the participant) * Age: between 60 and 85 years old * 50% female * Right-handedness * Average level of education (CBS level 3-4-5-6) * Normal or corrected to normal vision
Exclusion criteria
* Psychoactive medication use * Abuse of alcohol and drugs * Cognitive impairment due to alcohol/drug abuse or abuse of other substances * Past or present psychiatric or neurological disorders (major depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, psychotic disorder (or treatment for it), epilepsy, stroke, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, brain surgery, brain trauma, electroshock therapy, kidney dialysis, Menière's disease, brain infections) * Major vascular disorders (e.g. stroke) * Heart diseases or pacemakers * Contraindications for scanning (e.g. brain surgery, cardiac pacemaker, metal implants, claustrophobia, body tattoos) * Large scars or fresh wounds on the scalp
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| neural changes after multi-session tDCS | 5-12 days | fMRI-BOLD response |
| network changes after multi-session tDCS | 5-12 days | functional connectivity between network hubs |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Task performance changes after multi-session tDCS | 5-12 days | BPS-score |
Countries
Netherlands
Contacts
Primary ContactLisa Müller-Ehrenberg, MSc
Backup ContactHeidi IL Jacobs, PhD
Outcome results
None listed