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Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) in Gambling Disorder

NCT03464838 · Status: UNKNOWN · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 32

Last updated 2019-04-16

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Gambling disorder is associated to high impulsivity and excessive risk-taking behaviour. These behavioural characteristics related to addiction are linked to cognitive processes in specific brain areas located in the prefrontal cortex (PFC).

With the aim of studying the role of PFC in gambling disorder, the investigators employ transcranial current direct stimulation (tDCS), a noninvasive brain stimulation technique that applies a very weak electrical current to the superficial areas of the brain.

The clinical phase of the research consists on studying the effects of tDCS in combination with cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) in patients that attend the United Kingdom (UK) National Problem Gambling Clinic. The main objective of the project is to investigate whether the combination of tDCS and CBT can help to decrease impulsivity and risk-taking behaviour and therefore improve the treatment for gambling disorder.

Conditions

  • Pathological Gambling

Interventions

DEVICE

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a form of noninvasive brain stimulation that applies a very low electrical current to the scalp. tDCS will be applied with intensity of 1.8 milliamps in real stimulation condition and 0 milliamps in sham condition, during 20 minutes, using a high density (HD) tDCS montage over the Prefrontal Cortex (PFC). Electroencephalography (EEG) resting state activity will be measured before and after tDCS.

BEHAVIORAL

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is the current treatment available for disordered gamblers at the UK National Problem Gambling Clinic. During the therapy sessions patients acquire learning strategies, cognitive and motivational elements, and develop personal skills to help them improve the understanding of their problems.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • GambleAware

    collaborator UNKNOWN

  • National Problem Gambling Clinic

    collaborator UNKNOWN

  • University of East London

    lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
65 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2019-03-06
Primary Completion
2020-04-30
Completion
2020-09-01

Countries

  • United Kingdom

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT03464838 on ClinicalTrials.gov