Improving Cognition in Schizophrenia Using tDCS
Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT02539797. Field values are reproduced from the official study page; the official ClinicalTrials.gov record remains the source of truth for eligibility, enrollment, and contact information.
Data is sourced from official ClinicalTrials.gov public API records. Always review the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for the latest information.
Official title
Improving Cognition in Schizophrenia Using Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation
Brief summary
Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.
This study will examine the benefits of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a new tool that is being developed as a safe and non-invasive neurostimulation method, for improving neurocognitive and social cognitive functions in schizophrenia. This procedure is non-invasive and painless and it results in increase or decrease of spontaneous neuronal firing in the brain. Its safety and beneficial effect on cognition has been demonstrated in healthy individuals and several clinical populations. In this pilot study, the investigators will examine the effect of tDCS on cognitive functions in 40 individuals with schizophrenia. Each participant will arrive for three visits, with approximately one week between each visit. During the first visit, participants will be interviewed about their psychiatric symptoms, personal life experiences, and emotional well being by a specially-trained interviewer. On each of the three visits, participants will receive one of three stimulations: a type of tDCS designed to increase neuronal firing, an alternative form of tDCS designed to decrease neuronal firing, and a sham tDCS (stimulation with no current). Immediately following the stimulation, participants will be asked to complete measures of mental abilities, including tests presented on a computer screen and paper-and-pencil tests. During each visit, participants will also undergo a standard measure of brain activity (EEG) while listening to tones. The first visit will last approximately five hours, and the other two visits will last approximately four hours each. The project will take approximately two years to complete.
Study identification
- NCT ID
- NCT02539797
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Not applicable
- Enrollment
- 37 participants
Conditions and interventions
Conditions
Eligibility (public fields only)
- Age range
- 18 Years to 55 Years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Healthy volunteers not accepted
This page does not interpret eligibility. Detailed inclusion and exclusion criteria are on the official ClinicalTrials.gov record.
Study timeline
- Start date
- Sep 30, 2014
- Primary completion
- Sep 30, 2016
- Completion
- Sep 30, 2016
- Last update posted
- Mar 6, 2018
2014 – 2016
United States locations
- U.S. sites
- 1
- U.S. states
- 1
- U.S. cities
- 1
| Facility | City | State | ZIP | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior | Los Angeles | California | 90095 | — |
Site contact phone numbers, emails, and investigator names are intentionally not displayed here. Open the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for site contact information.
About this trial record page
- What this page shows
- Public field values for ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT02539797, including study identification, conditions, interventions, eligibility (age, sex, healthy volunteer), timeline, and U.S. site list.
- What this page does not do
- No medical advice, eligibility judgments, treatment recommendations, study quality scoring, or AI-generated medical summaries. No site contact phone numbers, emails, or investigator names.
- Where the data comes from
- Sourced from the official ClinicalTrials.gov public API. The official record is the source of truth.
- Last refresh
- Last update posted Mar 6, 2018 · Synced Sep 3, 2026
Related: full search, browse by condition, browse by drug or therapy, browse by sponsor, browse by U.S. city.
Open the official record
The complete protocol, eligibility criteria, and contact information for NCT02539797 live on ClinicalTrials.gov.