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Completed Not applicable Interventional

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) Therapy in Major Depression

ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT04507243

Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT04507243. 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.

ClinicalTrials.gov public records Last synced Sep 1, 2026, 7:50 PM EDT

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 antidepressant. Investigators will address these questions in a two-part randomized double blind exploratory clinical trial. For this part of the study, investigators will determine relationships between target engagement and clinical outcomes (mood) and functional sub-constructs of cognitive control and emotion negativity bias, and whether imaging markers at baseline predict changes in antidepressant response. One hundred people with depression (50 in each group) will be randomized to receive either HD-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 HD-tDCS in the MRI scanner, which will allow investigators 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
NCT04507243
Recruitment status
Completed
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Not applicable
Enrollment
72 participants

Conditions and interventions

Interventions

Device

Eligibility (public fields only)

Age range
18 Years to 65 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
Nov 30, 2020
Primary completion
Mar 6, 2024
Completion
Mar 6, 2024
Last update posted
Apr 29, 2024

2020 – 2024

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 NCT04507243, 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 Apr 29, 2024 · Synced Sep 1, 2026

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Open the official record

The complete protocol, eligibility criteria, and contact information for NCT04507243 live on ClinicalTrials.gov.

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