At-home Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation During Multitasking

Multitasking Behavior Clinical Trial

Official title:

At-home Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation During Multitasking

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT04231825
• Other study ID #: 18-26268-1
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: October 15, 2019
• Est. completion date: September 15, 2020

Study information

• Verified date: March 2022
• Source: University of California, San Francisco
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The goal is to replicate in-lab results from transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) with at-home tACS.

Description:

Participants will be assessed in-lab on multitasking and sustained attention abilities. Participants will be sent home with a tACS device to be used at-home for five days while engaged in a multitasking paradigm that is different from the multitasking outcome measure used pre/post tACS. After the at-home stimulation is complete, participants return to UCSF for a final in-lab assessment of multitasking and sustained attention ability.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 47
• Est. completion date: September 15, 2020
• Est. primary completion date: August 15, 2020
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years to 35 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• English speaking
• Grade 12 or more education
• Normal or corrected to normal vision and hearing
• Ability to complete cognitive tasks
• Ability to cooperate and comply with all study procedures
• Ability to tolerate tACS

Exclusion Criteria:

• Neurological or psychiatric disorders
• Family history of epilepsy
• History of seizures
• Prior head trauma
• Pregnant
• Implanted electronic devices (e.g., pacemaker)
• IQ < 80
• Taking psychotropic medication
• Taking anti-depressants or anti-anxiety medication
• Substance abuse
• Color blind
• Glaucoma
• Macular degeneration
• Amblyopia
• Strabismus

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Multitasking Behavior

Intervention

Device:
• Transcranial alternating current stimulation
Transcranial alternating current stimulation across the prefrontal cortex using electrodes F3 and F4.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	Sandler Neurosciences Center	San Francisco	California

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University of California, San Francisco

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Multitasking Performance Cost (Neuroracer Performance Change From Baseline)	Assessment of multitasking ability using change from baseline scores in d' cost (metric of discriminability). Discrimination performance (d') was measured for each participant by comparing hit (correct responses to target signs) rates and false alarm (responses to non-targets) rates and calculated as d' = Z (hits) - Z (false alarms). d' cost was then calculated as the ratio of d' during single task target discrimination task to multitask target discrimination, expressed as percentage cost.	Pre-tACS and post-tACS (1 week later)
Primary	Single Task Performance Change	Discrimination performance (d') was measured during single task performance for each participant by comparing hit (correct responses to target signs) rates and false alarm (responses to non-targets) rates and calculated as d' = Z (hits) - Z (false alarms). Performance data was collected during the single task condition.	Pre-tACS and post-tACS (1 week later)
Primary	Multitask Performance Change	Discrimination performance (d') was measured while multitasking for each participant by comparing hit (correct responses to target signs) rates and false alarm (responses to non-targets) rates and calculated as d' = Z (hits) - Z (false alarms). Performance data was collected during the multitask condition.	Pre-tACS and post-tACS (1 week later)
Secondary	Continuous Performance Test RT Change (Test of Visual Attention / Sustained Attention)	Assessment of sustained attention ability using response time (in ms) during the continuous performance test	Pre-tACS and post-tACS (1 week later)
Secondary	Continuous Performance Test RTV Change (Test of Visual Attention / Sustained Attention)	Assessment of sustained attention ability using response time variability (standard deviation of response times in ms) during the continuous performance test	Pre-tACS and post-tACS (1 week later)