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Direct Measurement of Motor Cortical Responses to tDCS

Direct Measurement of Motor Cortical Responses to Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation

Status
Completed
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Observational
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT04759898
Enrollment
20
Registered
2021-02-18
Start date
2021-01-01
Completion date
2025-01-01
Last updated
2026-05-01

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

Conditions

Parkinson Disease

Brief summary

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has shown the potential to improve symptoms in patients with movement deficits, such as Parkinson's disease and chronic stroke. However, the effects of tDCS have so far not been proven on a wider scale due to lack of knowledge regarding exactly how tDCS works. This has limited the adoption of this potentially useful therapy for patients with Parkinson's disease, chronic stroke and other conditions affecting movement. The investigators hypothesize that by studying the effects of tDCS in subjects performing a motor task, the brain signals mediating improvements in motor control will be identified. The investigators will use both noninvasive and invasive methods to explore this hypothesis. The investigators expect this combined approach to broaden understanding of tDCS application in conditions affecting movement and possibly lead to therapeutic advances in these populations.

Interventions

DEVICEtranscranial direct current stimulation (invasive recording)

Subjects are brought into the operating room. The scalp is prepped with a sterilizing solution. Following infiltration with local anesthetic and incision, a 6-contact electrocorticography strip is inserted into the burr hole covering primary motor cortex. Electrocorticography strip terminals are connected to an amplifier for signal recording. Gas-sterilized transcranial direct current stimulation electrodes are placed on the scalp directly overlying primary motor cortex. tDCS electrodes are connected to a low-current generator. During electrocorticographic recording, stimulation is turned on while subjects are asked to flex each arm. At the conclusion of the experiment, the electrocorticography strip and tDCS electrodes are removed and the surgery proceeds as planned.

Sponsors

Medical University of South Carolina
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Observational model
COHORT
Time perspective
PROSPECTIVE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 80 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Age 18 or older * Previous consent to be contacted regarding potential participation in a research study at Medical University of South Carolina

Exclusion criteria

* Subjects unable to actively participate in the consent process physically and/or cognitively * Pregnancy * Presence of scalp injury or disease * Prior history of seizures * Metal implants in head or neck * Prior intracranial surgery * Prior brain radiotherapy * Prior history of intracranial tumor, intracranial infection or cerebrovascular malformation

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change in Primary Motor Cortex Beta-Band Spectral Power During Movement Preparation With Anodal tDCSIntraoperative assessment during deep brain stimulation surgery: baseline (pre-tDCS) and during anodal tDCS; change from baseline during movement preparation reported.Primary motor cortex (PriMC) beta-band (13-30 Hz) spectral power was measured using subdural electrocorticography (sECoG) in patients with Parkinson's disease undergoing deep brain stimulation surgery. Spectral power was analyzed during the movement preparation phase of a cued arm-reaching task. The outcome represents the change in beta-band spectral power during anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) relative to pre-stimulation baseline, averaged across task trials for each participant.

Countries

United States

Contacts

PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORNathan C Rowland, MD,PhD

Medical University of South Carolina

Baseline characteristics

Characteristic
Age, Continuous65 years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 3
Race (NIH/OMB)
American Indian or Alaska Native
1 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Asian
3 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Black or African American
5 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
More than one race
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
1 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Unknown or Not Reported
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
White
10 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Female
10 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Male
10 Participants

Adverse events

Event typeEG000
affected / at risk
deaths
Total, all-cause mortality
0 / 20
other
Total, other adverse events
0 / 20
serious
Total, serious adverse events
0 / 20

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: May 2, 2026