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The Effect of Combined Brain Stimulation and Exercise for Improving Cognitive Function in Schizophrenia

NCT07745140 · Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 66

Last updated 2026-08-04

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

The study will investigate the (1) additive and synergistic effects of tDCS and aerobic exercise on cognitive function and clinical symptoms in schizophrenia, and (2) neurophysiological mechanisms (mediators) underlying these effects.

Conditions

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Aerobic exercise

Aerobic exercise training will be conducted twice per week, over a period of 6 weeks, supervised by a well-trained facilitator. Each 45-minute session consists of a warm-up (10 minutes), treadmill walking (15 minutes), stationary bike cycling (15 minutes), and cool-down stretching (5 minutes). Heart rate will be monitored throughout training by a wearable device, and 60% of the maximum heart rate (roughly calculated by 220-age) should be maintained for at least 20 minutes during each session. Participants may stop exercising at any time if they feel uncomfortable.

DEVICE

Active tDCS

Active tDCS will be applied using a wearable stimulator (Liftid) at a constant stimulation intensity of 1.2 mA for 20 minutes. The device has been designed for anodal stimulation targeting the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) using the F3 (anode) to F4 (cathode) montages.

DEVICE

Sham tDCS

Sham tDCS will be performed using the same device but without stimulation. During the aerobic exercise training, all participants will wear the device, and a facilitator will turn on the stimulation for participants receiving a-tDCS+AE intervention, and pretend to turn on the stimulation for participants receiving s-tDCS+AE intervention after the first 10-minute warm-up section.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

    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
2026-09-01
Primary Completion
2028-06-30
Completion
2028-12-31

Countries

  • Hong Kong

Study Locations

More Related Trials

Entities

Diseases

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 NCT07745140 on ClinicalTrials.gov