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Learning Study: Improving Vision in Adults With Macular Degeneration

NCT04762368 · Status: RECRUITING · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 30

Last updated 2026-01-22

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

The purpose of this study is to test whether a kind of brain stimulation called anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (a-tDCS) can be combined with perceptual learning to improve the ability of people with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) or juvenile macular degeneration (JMD) to read words presented to them on a computer screen better than if perceptual learning alone were used.

In addition, secondary measures of visual acuity will also be examined to determine whether brain stimulation can allow patients to resolve finer details of an image. The proposed treatment is the application of a-tDCS onto the participant's head, with brain stimulation aimed at Primary Visual Cortex toward the occipital pole, while patients undergo six separate sessions of training. The investigators will test the ability of participants to read words before the start of the training sessions (pre test) and after the completion of all training sessions (post test). This is a between-subjects design, and half of the participants will receive true stimulation, and the other half will receive sham stimulation. The difference between the pre and post tests when receiving active stimulation will be compared to the difference when receiving sham stimulation, because the sham stimulation is not expected to influence reading beyond a placebo. The aim of the study is to examine the potential of concurrent brain stimulation and perceptual learning as an effective treatment for macular degeneration that may be used in conjunction with more traditional eye-based interventions. The investigators hypothesize that the brain stimulation will enable higher performance in the reading task after and secondary measures after perceptual training due to an increase in the cortical excitability of the stimulated brain cells.

Conditions

  • Macular Degeneration

Interventions

DEVICE

Active anodal tDCS

a weak electric current is applied to the head through electrodes to affect the cortical excitability of the targeted cells in the brain.

DEVICE

Sham anodal tDCS

The tDCS machine will be used as in active stimulation, except the electrical current will not be applied.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

    collaborator OTHER

  • University of Waterloo

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Ben Thompson, PhD · University of Waterloo

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2021-02-13
Primary Completion
2026-12-31
Completion
2026-12-31

Countries

  • Canada
  • Hong Kong

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 NCT04762368 on ClinicalTrials.gov