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Completed

NCT Number: NCT04361760

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

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.

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Key information

Conditions

Healthy Aging

Age range

20 year–75 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Department of Neurology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital

Bern, 3010, Switzerland

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

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

Inclusion criteria

  • Informed consent as documented by signature
  • Age between 20-30 or 65-75 years
  • Neurologically healthy, i.e., with no documented or present neurological disease or brain injury
  • Normal or corrected-to-normal visual acuity

Exclusion criteria

  • Any instable medical condition, in particular epilepsy (past or present, including seizures or febrile convulsions)
  • Any surgical intervention to the brain
  • Heart diseases
  • Implanted medical devices (e.g., cochlear implants, infusion pumps, neurostimulators, pacemakers)
  • History of migraine or strong headaches
  • Sleep deprivation
  • Presence of non-MRI safe metal in the body
  • Drug or alcohol abuse
  • Intake of any medication that is likely to lower seizure threshold
  • Claustrophobia
  • For female participants: in order to participate in the study, female participants in reproductive age need to take a pregnancy test (a standard urine pregnancy test will be provided).
  • For female participants: breastfeeding
  • Inability to follow the procedures of the study, e.g. due to language problems, psychological disorders, etc. of the participant
  • Lack of knowledge of the German language
  • Participation in another study with investigational drug within the 30 days preceding and during the present study
  • Previous enrolment into the current study
  • Enrolment of the investigator, his/her family members, employees and other dependent persons

Treatment and study plan

single-puls TMS

Device

Medical Device (MD): MagPro X100

Sham stimulation

Device

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.

Primary outcomes

  1. Age-related differences in the spatio-temporal patterns of signal propagation

    Time frame: 2 hours

    The spatiotemporal patterns of signal propagation, as measured with a combined TMS-hd-EEG approach, in younger and older healthy participants, reflecting age-related differences on the neural level.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Association between the performance in a cognitive test battery and patterns of signal propagation in younger and older participants

    Time frame: 4 hours

    The association between the performance in a specific cognitive test and the aforementioned patterns of signal propagation in younger and older healthy participants, reflecting the functional significance of these age-related patterns on the cognitive level.

  2. Association between the performance in a cognitive test battery and patterns of signal propagation in better- and worse-performers

    Time frame: 4 hours

    The association between the performance in a specific cognitive test and the aforementioned patterns of signal propagation in better- and worse-performers, reflecting the functional significance of these age-independent patterns on the cognitive level.

  3. Association between the patterns of signal propagation and the structural properties of the white matter

    Time frame: 4 hours

    The association between the aforementioned patterns of signal propagation and the structural properties of the white matter interconnecting the involved cortical areas, as measured by DTI.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Insel Gruppe AG, University Hospital Bern

Other

Registry information

Official study title

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

Important dates

Study start
2020
Primary completion
2021
Study completion
2021
First posted
Apr 24, 2020
Registry last updated
Oct 5, 2021

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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