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Completed

NCT Number: NCT02391311

A Novel Neurorehabilitation Approach for Cognitive Aging With HIV

The goal of this study is to conduct a small, self-contained project to test the hypothesis that tDCS will augment SOP cognitive remediation therapy (CRT) in older HIV+ adults. The investigators will randomly assign 60 HIV+ older adults (i.e., ≥ 50 years old) to 10-hours in either a SOP CRT + sham tDCS condition (n=30) or SOP CRT + active tDCS condition (n=30) and examine neurocognitive functioning at baseline and 6 weeks post-intervention. Hypothesis 1: The SOP CRT + active tDCS condition will show larger proximal (i.e., SOP) gains than the SOP CRT + sham tDCS condition. Hypothesis 2: The active tDCS condition will demonstrate generalization to secondary neurocognitive domains compared to the sham tDCS condition.

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Key information

Conditions

HIV Aging

Age range

50 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

UAB 1917 Clinic

Birmingham, Alabama, 35294, United States

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • HIV+
  • Aged 50 and older
  • Patient at University HIV/AIDS Clinic

Exclusion criteria

  • Not homeless
  • Not blind or deaf
  • No significant neuromedical issues (e.g., schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, stroke, epilepsy or history of seizures)
  • No pacemaker or other biomedical devices or metal implants
  • No untreated hypertension
  • Not undergoing chemo or radiation
  • No head injury with LOC greater than 30 mins

Treatment and study plan

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)

Device

tDCS is a low level electrical stimulation that will be applied to F10. The sham group will receive 2 mA (milliamps) for 30 seconds, while the experimental group will receive 2 mA for 20 minutes. Both groups will have 10, 1 hour sessions of playing cognitive remediation games, while receiving the respective level of tDCS for sham vs experimental conditions.

Other names: transcranial electrical stimulation (tES)

Primary outcomes

  1. Change in the Processing of Speed

    Time frame: baseline, 6 week posttest

    Computerized and paper & pencil processing speed measures were used to evaluate this outcome. The Letter and Pattern Comparison Tasks are traditional paper and pencil (SOP) measures. Specifically, they assess perceptual speed. In Letter Comparison subjects are shown three sets of 32 pairs of letters containing 3, 6, or 9 segments. The participants are instructed to decide whether the patterns between the pairs are the same or different within each set, with a time limit of 20 sec per set. Pattern Comparison also presents three sets of 32 pairs of patterns with 3, 6, or 9 line segments. Similarly, participants are instructed to decide whether the patterns are the same or different within the 20 sec time limit. For each measure, the total score is the number of correct answers from all three sets. Larger scores indicate better reasoning and cognitive functioning. In this study scores from Letter and Pattern Comparison were combined for a total Letter/Pattern Score.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Change in Driving Simulator Performance

    Time frame: baseline, 6 week posttest

    Driving Simulator Performance: Center lane crossings (a count of how many times an individual crosses the centerline during the entire simulator drive). A difference score was taken between time 2 and time 1 and compared between treatment groups (sham condition and tDCS condition). A negative difference score indicates that fewer center line crossings were made at time 2 than time 1, while positive difference scores indicate the opposite direction, and scores of 0 represent no change.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Alabama at Birmingham

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Speed of Processing Training With Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Older HIV+ Adults (HtDCS)

Acronym: HtDCS

Important dates

Study start
2015
Primary completion
2016
Study completion
2016
First posted
Mar 18, 2015
Registry last updated
May 15, 2017

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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