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Signal Propagation and Its Relationship to Cognitive Performance in the Aging Human Brain (Focus or Spread)

NCT04361760 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 40

Last updated 2021-10-05

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

In the next three decades, the world's population over 60 years old is expected to more than double its size. Even in the absence of an obvious pathology (i.e., healthy aging), advancing age is typically associated with a progressive decline in cognitive performance. Although pathophysiological changes in age-related neurodegenerative disorders have received much attention over the past years, far less is known about the neural processes affecting cognition in healthy ageing. One of these postulated processes is neural dedifferentiation (i.e., a decrease in neural selectivity, by which neural representations of processed information become less univocally distinguishable), possibly accompanied by the recruitment of additional cortical areas in the healthy aging brain. To date, these processes have been extensively studied on the neural level, yet their functional significance for cognitive behaviour remains largely unclear. This project will investigate neural dedifferentiation and its relationship to cognitive performance in the healthy aging brain. To this end, the investigators will use a combination of state-of-the-art technologies including simultaneous transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and high-density electroencephalography (hd-EEG) as well as diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Perspectives include a better understanding of the relationship between neurophysiological mechanisms and cognitive performance in the healthy aging brain.

Conditions

  • Healthy Aging

Interventions

DEVICE

single-puls TMS

Medical Device (MD): MagPro X100

DEVICE

sham stimulation

Sham stimulation is delivered with a dedicated coil, which is magnetically shielded and thus produces only approx. 20% of the nominal magnetic field. This is not enough to reach and stimulate the cortex, but the produced sound and scalp sensation are the same as with a real TMS coil.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Insel Gruppe AG, University Hospital Bern

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • René M. Müri, Prof. Dr. · Department of Neurology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
SINGLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
20 Years
Max Age
75 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2020-06-25
Primary Completion
2021-04-08
Completion
2021-05-18

Countries

  • Switzerland

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 NCT04361760 on ClinicalTrials.gov