NCT02869334

Remediation of Auditory Recognition in Schizophrenia With tDCS

Remediation of Auditory Recognition in Schizophrenia With Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS)

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 20 (actual)
• Sponsor: New York State Psychiatric Institute · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 55 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The purpose of this study is to determine whether transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), when combined with different forms of computer based training, improves the ability to discriminate small differences between sounds in people diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.

Detailed description

This study uses an experimental procedure called transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). Little is known about how tDCS affects the brain or why some people diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder have trouble with certain kinds of hearing. This study is being done to see if an experimental computer training program, when combined with tDCS, can help people to hear better. In tDCS, a small amount of electricity is passed through electrodes placed on the head that is able to stimulate the brain. By stimulating the brain, the investigators believe that the functioning of the brain can be altered. This study will test whether such stimulation of the brain, when done with computer training, can improve hearing ability and if this improvement helps in other ways, like detecting changes in someone's tone of voice or understanding other people's emotions better. The data being collected aims to better understand how the brain processes sounds and how tDCS affects the brain.

Conditions

• Schizophrenia
• Schizoaffective Disorder

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DEVICE	Active Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)	Active tDCS, where an extremely weak electric current passes through the brain
DEVICE	Sham Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)	Sham (inactive or placebo) tDCS
BEHAVIORAL	Auditory Remediation	Computer program designed to improve discrimination between sounds
BEHAVIORAL	Control computer activities	Computer program (e.g. games), which are not designed to improve discrimination between sounds

Timeline

• Start date: 2016-06-01
• Primary completion: 2020-01-31
• Completion: 2020-01-31
• First posted: 2016-08-16
• Last updated: 2021-07-08
• Results posted: 2021-07-08

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States