Association of Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation with Digital Cognitive Training for Cognitive Remediation in Older Adults

Summary

BACKGROUND Cognitive decline in older adults, especially those who develop Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease, currently has limited options of pharmacological treatments, with modest efficacy.

Digital Cognitive Training (DCT) and Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (tACS) are two promising tools for cognitive remediation in this population. In this exploratory study, we investigate feasibility, tolerability and preliminary effects of the association of both interventions in older adults with cognitive complaints.

METHODS Older adults with cognitive complaints are being enrolled for this study, which comprises 5 daily sessions of 30 minutes of DCT using the BrainHQ platform while simultaneously receiving theta tACS (6Hz, 1.6mA) targeting the Left Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex.

Conditions

• Cognitive Dysfunction
• Alzheimer Disease
• Mild Cognitive Impairment
• Cognitive Decline
• Frontotemporal Degeneration
• Dementia
• Dementia, Vascular
• Lewy Body Disease
• Beta-Amyloid
• GFAP
• Tau Protein

Interventions

DEVICE

Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation

An alternate eletric current of 1.6mA in theta frequency is applied in the scalp, using two eletrodes (5x5cm). The eletrodes are located aiming for the left dorsolateral prefrontal Cortex area.

DEVICE

Digital Cognitive Training

Using a tablet, the participant will do exercises that were designed to stimulate cognitive domains, especially attention and memory. In this case, we use the BrainHQ platform.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Alzheimer's Association

  collaborator OTHER

• Rio de Janeiro State Research Supporting Foundation (FAPERJ)

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Rogerio Panizzutti, Professor · UFRJ

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

TRIPLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

50 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2024-12-02

Primary Completion

2027-03-01

Completion

2027-03-01

Countries

• Brazil

Study Locations