NCT04348812

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) Augments the Effects of Gamified, Mobile Attention Bias Modification

• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 1
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 38 (actual)
• Sponsor: Hunter College of City University of New York · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 45 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The present study tested whether transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) across the prefrontal cortex (PFC), versus sham stimulation, effectively augments the beneficial effects of a gamified attention bias modification training (ABMT) mobile app.

Detailed description

Anxiety-related attentional bias (AB) is the preferential processing of threat observed in clinical and sub-clinical anxiety. Attention bias modification training (ABMT) is a computerized cognitive training technique designed to systematically direct attention away from threat and ameliorate AB, but mixed and null findings have highlighted gaps in our understanding of mechanisms underlying ABMT and how to design the most effective delivery systems. One neuromodulation technique, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) across the prefrontal cortex (PFC) may augment the effects of ABMT by strengthening top-down cognitive control processes, but the evidence base is limited and has not been generalized to current approaches in digital therapeutics, such as mobile applications. The present study tested whether tDCS across the PFC, versus sham stimulation, effectively augments the beneficial effects of a gamified ABMT mobile app. Thirty-eight adults (Mage = 23.92, SD = 4.75; 18 females) evidencing low-to-moderate anxiety symptoms were randomly assigned to active or sham tDCS for 30-minutes while receiving ABMT via a mobile app. Participants reported on potential moderators of ABMT, including life stress and trait anxiety. ECG was recorded during a subsequent stressor to generate respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) suppression as a metric of stress resilience.

Conditions

• Anxiety
• Stress

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	ABMT	mobile attention bias modification training for anxiety, using the app Personal Zen
OTHER	Transcranial direct current stimulation	Soterix 1X1 tDCS Limited Total Energy (LTE) Stimulator

Timeline

• Start date: 2019-02-01
• Primary completion: 2019-12-15
• Completion: 2019-12-15
• First posted: 2020-04-16
• Last updated: 2020-04-17

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States