Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (tACS) for Auditory Hallucinations

Schizophrenia Clinical Trial

Official title:

Intervention Treatment of Auditory Hallucination by Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT05159336
• Other study ID #: NDYX20211101
• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: November 16, 2021
• Est. completion date: May 28, 2023

Study information

• Verified date: November 2021
• Source: Shanghai Mental Health Center
• Contact: Yegang Hu, Doctor
• Phone: 021-52219305
• Email: yeganghu[@]126.com
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) can modulate and restore neural oscillations that are reduced in patients with psychiatric illnesses such as schizophrenia. Here, we performed a open-lable study of clinical trial in 30 schizophrenia patients with auditory hallucinations to show that tACS is effective for auditory hallucinations.

Description:

Each week, the patient rested quietly with her eyes open while receiving alpha-frequency tACS for 40 minutes. Stimulation was delivered at 10 Hz with 1 mA zero-to-peak amplitude in-phase to the location 1 and the location 2 acquired by the MEG technique with 5*5 cm electrodes. A 5* 7 cm return electrode was centered on Cz. In total, 20 weeks.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Recruiting
• Enrollment: 30
• Est. completion date: May 28, 2023
• Est. primary completion date: March 30, 2023
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 16 Years to 65 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Schizophrenia with auditory hallucinations was diagnosed by DSM-IV, AHRS >12, Take sufficient antipsychotics for at least 1 month.

Exclusion Criteria:

• current pregnancy, major medical illness affecting the central nervous system, significant neurologic disorders, intake of drugs including supplements like essential fatty acids that influence prostaglandins or niacin skin flush flash pathway metabolism, a history of suicide risk, or alcohol or drug abuse.

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Hallucinations
• Schizophrenia

Intervention

Device:
• tACS for auditory hallucinations via single arm
a 20 weeks, weekly 40 minutes, 1mA, 10Hz-tACS protocol

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
China	Shanghai Mental Health Center	Shanghai

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Shanghai Mental Health Center

Country where clinical trial is conducted

China, 

References & Publications (2)

Ahn S, Mellin JM, Alagapan S, Alexander ML, Gilmore JH, Jarskog LF, Fröhlich F. Targeting reduced neural oscillations in patients with schizophrenia by transcranial alternating current stimulation. Neuroimage. 2019 Feb 1;186:126-136. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroi — View Citation

Force RB, Riddle J, Jarskog LF, Fröhlich F. A case study of the feasibility of weekly tACS for the treatment of auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia. Brain Stimul. 2021 Mar-Apr;14(2):361-363. doi: 10.1016/j.brs.2021.01.014. Epub 2021 Jan 27. — View Citation

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Evaluation of Auditory Hallucination Scale(the minimum is 0, maximum value is 47, and higher scores mean a worse outcome)	Reduction rate of AHRS scale	One month