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Post-concussion and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation

NCT03481153 · Status: UNKNOWN · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 25

Last updated 2018-03-29

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Children and youth are at a greater risk of concussions than adults, and once injured, take longer to recover. The increased incidence of sports-related concussion in youth and the potentially serious long-term negative impact on their developing brains has enormous repercussions. While most young athletes recover within several days, many continue to experience symptoms for many months post-concussion. Symptoms are wide ranging and include - most notably: headache, sleep disturbances, brain fog, irritability as well as impairments in emotion and cognitive function (i.e. attention, memory, concentration, etc.). Yet there are no evidence-based intervention studies that have successfully addressed these symptoms. Thus, there is an urgent need for improved therapeutic strategies, which promote optimal functional recovery in youth concussion.

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a safe, non-invasive neurostimulation technique that can modulate neural excitability in the brain to positively impact cognition, behaviour and mood, particularly when combined with a behavioural intervention. Our long-term goal is to determine whether exercise combined with neurostimulation improves recovery from concussion. However, to our knowledge, the therapeutic potential of tDCS has not been studied in youth with concussion. Our objectives are as follows:

1. To determine the tolerability of a 20-minute session of tDCS in symptomatic youth athletes;
2. To evaluate the association between symptoms and EEG metrics at baseline and following a single session of tDCS in symptomatic athletes and compare these associations in symptomatic athletes who do not receive tDCS.

Conditions

  • Concussion, Mild

Interventions

DEVICE

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)

tDCS is a safe, non-invasive neurostimulation technique that can modulate neural excitability in the brain to positively impact cognition, behaviour and mood, particularly when combined with a behavioural intervention

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • University of British Columbia

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Naznin Virji-Babul, PhD · University of British Columbia

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

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

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2018-04-30
Primary Completion
2019-04-30
Completion
2020-04-30

Countries

  • Canada

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 NCT03481153 on ClinicalTrials.gov