NCT03148470

Impact of Theta Burst Stimulation Over the Left DLPFC on Language Switching

Impact of Theta Burst Stimulation Over the Left Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex on Language Switching and Cognitive Flexibility

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 41 (actual)
• Sponsor: Jean-Marie Annoni · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 45 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether theta burst stimulation (TBS) over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) influences language switching and cognitive flexibility. The experimental paradigm will assess the impact of inhibitory and excitatory prefrontal stimulation by TBS versus sham-TBS over the DLPFC in healthy bilinguals.

Detailed description

Background: Clinical observations and neuroimaging studies seem to confirm the role of executive functions and frontal structures in language processing in bilingual subjects. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, such as for example theta burst stimulation (TBS), is increasingly being used as a valuable tool for neuroscientists investigating the underlying mechanisms of cognitive functions. Case studies have shown a change in language switching after bilingual patients received repetitive magnetic stimulation to the left DLPFC. However, there is no study investigating the effect of TBS applied to the DLPFC on language switching in healthy participants. Procedure: A planned total of 40 unbalanced bilingual participants will be included. Half of the participants will receive inhibitory theta burst stimulation (continuous TBS), the other half excitatory theta burst stimulation (intermittent TBS). After TBS, different language and nonverbal tasks will be performed while an EEG is measured. Before being stimulated, each subject will conduct the same tasks with a sham-TBS as a baseline measure.

Conditions

• Languages

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DEVICE	Sham iTBS	Placebo stimulation for the iTBS group
DEVICE	Sham cTBS	Placebo stimulation for the cTBS group
DEVICE	intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS)	Excitatory theta burst stimulation
DEVICE	continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS)	inhibitory theta burst stimulation

Timeline

• Start date: 2016-09-01
• Primary completion: 2018-07-01
• Completion: 2019-07-01
• First posted: 2017-05-11
• Last updated: 2020-04-22
• Results posted: 2020-04-10

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Switzerland