Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Major Depression
Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT03556124. 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
Imaging-guided tDCS Therapy in Major Depression
Brief summary
Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.
Noninvasive transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a low-intensity neuromodulation technique of minimal risk that has been used as an experimental procedure for reducing depressive symptoms and symptoms of other brain disorders. Though tDCS applied to prefrontal brain areas is shown to reduce symptoms in some people with major depressive disorder (MDD), the extent of antidepressant response often differs. Methods that map current flow directly in the brain while a person is receiving tDCS and that determine how functional neuroimaging signal changes after a series of tDCS sessions may help us understand how tDCS works, how it can be optimized, and if it can be used as an effective intervention for reducing depressive symptoms. We will investigate these questions in a two-part randomized double blind exploratory clinical trial. The first part of the trial will compare how current flow and functional imaging signal differs in the brain when using tDCS with more focal stimulation, called high definition (HD) tDCS, compared to conventional tDCS (C-tDCS) or sham (non-active) tDCS in patients with MDD. Sixty people with depression (20 in each group) will be randomized to receive either HD-tDCS, C-tDCS or sham-tDCS for a total of 12 sessions each lasting 20 minutes occurring on consecutive weekdays. At the first and last session, subjects will receive 20-30 minutes of active or sham tDCS in the MRI scanner, which will allow us to map tDCS currents, and track changes in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) pre-to- post treatment using completely non-invasive methods. At the first and last session and mid-way through the trial, participants will also complete a series of clinical ratings and neurocognitive tests
Study identification
- NCT ID
- NCT03556124
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Not applicable
- Enrollment
- 66 participants
Conditions and interventions
Conditions
Interventions
- Active - HD tDCS Device
- Sham - HD tDCS Device
- Active - Conventional tDCS Device
- Sham - Conventional tDCS Device
Device
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
- Feb 1, 2018
- Primary completion
- May 30, 2020
- Completion
- May 30, 2020
- Last update posted
- Jul 30, 2020
2018 – 2020
United States locations
- U.S. sites
- 1
- U.S. states
- 1
- U.S. cities
- 1
| Facility | City | State | ZIP | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) | 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 NCT03556124, 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 Jul 30, 2020 · Synced Sep 2, 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 NCT03556124 live on ClinicalTrials.gov.