The goal of this randomised controlled trial is to investigate the effects of a 2-week high-frequency transcranial pulsed current stimulation (tPCS) on cognitive outcomes in older and healthy adults. The main questions it aims to answer are:
1. Would a single session of anodal tPCS over the left prefrontal cortex improve working memory, task inhibition, and task switching in healthy young and older adults, compared to anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and sham-tPCS? 2. Would repeated session of anodal-tPCS (2-weeks) lead to improvements in working memory, task inhibition, and task switching in healthy young and older adults, compared to tDCS and sham-tPCS? 3. Will tPCS be better tolerated among healthy adults, compared to tDCS?
Researchers will compare tPCS / tDCS / sham-tPCS to see if there are any differences in cognitive outcomes after 1 session and after repeated sessions, as well as to compare the tolerance of tPCS against tDCS and sham-tPCS.
Participants will be requested to:
* Undergo 1 of 3 of the following conditions: tDCS / tPCS / sham-tPCS * Complete three sessions of cognitive tasks testing working memory, inhibition and task switching at baseline (pre-stimulation), after day 1 of brain stimulation and after 10 sessions of brain stimulation (post- repeated stimulation) * Undergo fNIRS-EEG brain measurements concurrently with the cognitive tasks
Male and female young (21 to 30 years) and older adults (60 to 75 years)
Right-handed
Must be a native English speaker
No clinical diagnosis of neurodevelopmental, mood, neurological or neurodegenerative disorders
Currently on long-term medication for pain or migraines / headaches
Adults with metallic implants in the chest or head region
Adults with epilepsy, or known seizure or immediate family members that have had a seizure before
Had a recent head injury that resulted in a temporary loss of consciousness or of memory in the last 12 months
Parallel
Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation (tDCS / tPCS / sham-tPCS)
DeviceThis is a novel non-invasive brain stimulation technique that we hope to be investigating, and this technique will be compared with an active control (tDCS) and a control (sham-tPCS).
Executive Functioning
Working memory through 1-, 2- and 3-back tasks performance Behavioural inhibitory control through Go / No-Go task performance Cognitive flexibility through Stroop task performance
Task-based activation and functional connectivity during executive functioning tasks
Measuring changes in hemodynamic (oxyhaemoglobin) responses in the brain using Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS)
Neural function associated with executive functioning tasks
Measuring neural activity using electroencephaogram (EEG) whereby traditional EEG bands (e.g. Alpha, Beta, Theta, Delta) will be assessed.
Tolerance of tPCS (intervention)
Questionnaires on participants' well-being after stimulation sessions \[adapted and modified from Antal et al. (2017)\]. The participants will rate their symptoms / discomfort as follows: none, mild, moderate, or strong and state the extent to which the symptoms / discomfort is / are affecting their general state from a scale of 'Not at all' to 'Very much'.
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Nanyang Technological University
Lead sponsor
Ministry of Education, Singapore
Collaborator
National Institute of Education, Singapore
Collaborator
This trial is not recruiting at the moment. You can still explore other options:
