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tDCS for Dual-task Performance in Patients With PD

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation to Improve Dual-task Performance in Idiopathic Parkinson's Disease: A Prospective, Single-center, Double-blind, Explorative Clinical Trial

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT04504422
Enrollment
24
Registered
2020-08-07
Start date
2020-11-05
Completion date
2024-02-13
Last updated
2024-02-20

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

Conditions

Parkinson Disease

Keywords

Parkinson Disease, transcranial direct current stimulation, dual-task performance

Brief summary

The purpose of this study is to investigate the optimal stimulation location of transcranial direct current stimulation to improve the dual-task performance in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Detailed description

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a disease caused by dopamine deficiency in the striatum resulting from the loss of dopaminergic neuronal cells in the cerebral substantia. It is a progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized by motor symptoms including gait disturbance and balance instability. In the early stages of Parkinson's disease, dysfunction of the sensorimotor area of the basal ganglia typically occurs, leading to habitual control hurdles. Accordingly, cognitive efforts are required to perform habitual tasks such as walking, and the automaticity of walking is reduced. Walking performance in a dual-task condition has been used to assess gait automaticity in patients with Parkinson's disease. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation method that can be used to change cortical activity. Recently, there has been growing attention on tDCS as an adjunct tool for rehabilitation. Several tDCS studies in patients with PD have reported the positive results of tDCS on motor function. However, few studies have reported the therapeutic effect of tDCS on the dual-task performance in PD. In addition, inconsistent results have been reported because tDCS protocol has been applied in various way. Therefore, this study aims to investigate an optimized stimulation site of tDCS that could improve the dual-task performance in patients with PD.

Interventions

DEVICEtranscranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS)

tDCS was applied for 20 minutes through two saline-soaked sponge electrodes (diameter 6cm) using the YMS-201B (Ybrain Inc, South Korea).

Sponsors

Seoul National University Hospital
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
CROSSOVER
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE (Subject, Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
19 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Clinically diagnosed as idiopathic Parkinson's disease * modified Hoehn & Yahr stage 2, 2.5, or 3

Exclusion criteria

* History of seizure * Metallic implants, such as cardiac pacemaker or an artificial cochlea * Patients with inflammation, burns, or wounds in the stimulation area * Parkinson's disease dementia; cut-off is \< 7 of Korean-Montreal Cognitive Assessment for illiterate patients, \< 13 for those educated for 0.5-3 years, \< 16 for 4-6 years of education, \< 19 for 7-9 years of education, and \< 20 for 10 or more years of education. * Severe dyskinesia or severe on-off phenomenon * Plan to adjust medication at the time of screening * Sensory abnormalities of the lower extremities, other neurological or orthopedic disease affecting lower extremities, or severe cardiovascular diseases * Vestibular disease or paroxysmal vertigo * Pregnant or lactating patients * Other comorbidities that make it difficult to participate in this study

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Cognitive dual-task interference (%) in Timed-up & go testImmediately after a 20-minute tDCS sessionPercentage of dual-task interference calculated by the difference between dual-task and single-task performance \[Percentage of dual-task interference=(Dual-task performance - Single-task performance)/Single-task performance\]
Physical dual-task interference (%) in Timed-up & go testImmediately after a 20-minute tDCS sessionPercentage of dual-task interference calculated by the difference between dual-task and single-task performance \[Percentage of dual-task interference=(Dual-task performance - Single-task performance)/Single-task performance\]

Secondary

MeasureTime frame
Timed-up & go test (sec): physical dual-taskImmediately after a 20-minute tDCS session
Stroop testImmediately after a 20-minute tDCS session
Timed-up & go test (sec): single taskImmediately after a 20-minute tDCS session
Digit span testImmediately after a 20-minute tDCS session
Trail making testImmediately after a 20-minute tDCS session
Timed-up & go test (sec): cognitive dual-taskImmediately after a 20-minute tDCS session

Countries

South Korea

Outcome results

None listed

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