The purpose of the study is to test whether low level electric stimulation, called transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS), on the part of the brain (i.e., presupplementary motor area) thought to aid in memory will improve verbal retrieval in military veteran participants with histories of traumatic brain injuries. The primary outcome measures are neuropsychological assessments of verbal retrieval, and the secondary measures are neuropsychological assessments of other cognitive abilities and electroencephalography (EEG) measures. Additionally, the study will examine the degree to which baseline assessments of cognition and concussion history predict responses to treatment over time, both on assessments administered within the intervention period and at follow-up.
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Parallel
Transcranial direct current stimulation
DeviceTranscranial direct current stimulation will be delivered via a Neuroelectrics Starstim tES. Stimulation will consist of 1 milliamp stimulation, with anodal stimulation delivered at electrode Fz (International 10/10 System for electroencephalography electrode placement) and electrodes F7, FP1, FP2, and F8 as returns. All electrodes are 1 cm diameter Ag/AgCl electrodes and make contact with the scalp via connective gel. Stimulation will linearly ramp up from 0 milliamps to 1 milliamp over 60 seconds, then remain at 1 milliamp of stimulation over 20 minutes, and finally ramping down at to 0 milliamps over 60 seconds.
sham tDCS
DeviceSham transcranial direct current stimulation will be delivered via a Neuroelectrics Starstim tES. The sham setup will consist of anodal electrode Fz (International 10/10 System for electroencephalography electrode placement) and electrodes F7, FP1, FP2, and F8 as returns. All electrodes are 1 cm diameter Ag/AgCl electrodes and make contact with the scalp via connective gel. Stimulation will linearly ramp up from 0 milliamps to 1 milliamp over 60 seconds, ramp down to 0 milliamps over 60 seconds and then be left off for 20 minutes.
Treatment group differences in change from Baseline to 3-months Post-Treatment on the Controlled Oral Word Association Test
Evaluation of treatment group differences in change on the Control Word Association Test from baseline to 3-months. Metric: Number of Correct Items Generated Benton, L.A., Hamsher, K., \& Sivan, A.B., (1994). Multilingual aphasia examination. Iowa City: AJA Associates.
Treatment group differences in change from Baseline to 2-months Post-Treatment on the Controlled Oral Word Association Test
Evaluation of treatment group differences in change on the Control Word Association Test from baseline to 2-months. Metric: Number of Correct Items Generated Benton, L.A., Hamsher, K., \& Sivan, A.B., (1994). Multilingual aphasia examination. Iowa City: AJA Associates.
Treatment group differences in change from Baseline to 3-months Post-Treatment in Category Fluency
Evaluation of treatment group differences in change in Category Fluency from baseline to 3-months. Metric: Number of Correct Items Generated Benton, L.A., Hamsher, K., \& Sivan, A.B., (1994). Multilingual aphasia examination. Iowa City: AJA Associates.
Treatment group differences in change from Baseline to 2-months Post-Treatment in Category Fluency
Evaluation of treatment group differences in change in Category Fluency from baseline to 2-months. Metric: Number of Correct Items Generated Benton, L.A., Hamsher, K., \& Sivan, A.B., (1994). Multilingual aphasia examination. Iowa City: AJA Associates.
Treatment group differences in change from Baseline to 3-months Post-Treatment on the Trail Making Test (Part A)
Evaluation of treatment group differences in change on the Trail Making Test (Part A) from baseline to 3-months. Metric: Time to Solution Reitan, R.M., (1958). Validity of the Trail Making Test as an indicator of organic brain damage. Percept. Motor Skill., 8, 271-276.
Treatment group differences in change from Baseline to 2-months Post-Treatment on the Trail Making Test (Part A)
Evaluation of treatment group differences in change on the Trail Making Test (Part A) from baseline to 2-months. Metric: Time to Solution Reitan, R.M., (1958). Validity of the Trail Making Test as an indicator of organic brain damage. Percept. Motor Skill., 8, 271-276.
Treatment group differences in change from Baseline to 3-months Post-Treatment on the Trail Making Test (Part B)
Evaluation of treatment group differences in change on the Trail Making Test (Part B) from baseline to 3-months. Metric: Time to Solution Reitan, R.M., (1958). Validity of the Trail Making Test as an indicator of organic brain damage. Percept. Motor Skill., 8, 271-276.
Treatment group differences in change from Baseline to 2-months Post-Treatment on the Trail Making Test (Part B)
Evaluation of treatment group differences in change on the Trail Making Test (Part B) from baseline to 2-months. Metric: Time to Solution Reitan, R.M., (1958). Validity of the Trail Making Test as an indicator of organic brain damage. Percept. Motor Skill., 8, 271-276.
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