NCT04598152

Modulating Default Mode Network Function: A Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (TDCS) Pilot Study

• Status: Terminated
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 4 (actual)
• Sponsor: Jay Fournier · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 30 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The primary purpose of this research is to gather scientific information about how different people's brains work when they look at different types of pictures. This will help to improve the investigators' understanding of the way the brain works for people who are depressed or anxious, and this knowledge could help lead to better diagnosis and treatment.

Detailed description

In this study the investigators are examining the effects of weak electrical stimulation on brain activity as measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). MRI is a widely used method to obtain high resolution brain pictures that are routinely used for diagnostic and clinical purposes. The electrical stimulation is applied on the scalp with a non-FDA approved method called tDCS (transcranial Direct Current Stimulation), typically equivalent to what a 6V battery would produce (and up to no more than 15V). To compare, an AA battery delivers current at 1.5 volt. While almost unnoticeable to the participants, these currents can still temporarily affect brain activity without causing adverse effects. This stimulation would be applied while the participants are in the MRI scanner so that the brain activity can be measured. The participants will have the opportunity to have a test session with the stimulation outside the scanner to get familiar with it.

Conditions

• Depression, Anxiety

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DEVICE	TDCS - transcranial direct current stimulation	TDCS involves passing a weak current through the brain. One variant, cathodal TDCS, can be used to temporarily hyperpolarize cortical pyramidal cells, thereby decreasing neuronal connections. TDCS has been explored as a possible treatment for depression, but results to date are mixed. No work has examined whether TDCS can be used in an individually guided manner to target locations in the parietal cortex and alter the patterns of circuitry dysfunction described previously.

Timeline

• Start date: 2018-10-01
• Primary completion: 2020-03-09
• Completion: 2020-03-09
• First posted: 2020-10-22
• Last updated: 2022-01-04
• Results posted: 2022-01-04

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States

Regulatory

• FDA-regulated device study