Clinical trial NCT03055884: Investigating Accelerated Learning in Healthy Subjects
Official title: Investigating Accelerated Learning in Healthy Subjects
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: WITHDRAWN
Phase: NA
Conditions: Healthy Adults
Keywords: transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS)
accelerated learning
memory
Lead sponsor: The University of Texas at Dallas
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2017-02-16
Enrollment: 0
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 35
Standard ages: ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: BASIC_SCIENCE

Brief summary: The purpose of this study is to investigate whether it is possible to accelerate learning and improve associative memory performance in healthy subjects, by (1) applying transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) during a verbal paired-associate learning task and by (2) optimizing the learning method with repeated retrieval practice.

Detailed description: Associative memory refers to remembering the association between two items, such as a face and a name or a word in English and the same word in another language. It is not only important for learning, but it is also one of the first aspects of memory performance that is impacted by aging and by Alzheimer׳s disease. For decades, neuroscientists have investigated associative learning and memory and ways to accelerate and enhance associative learning and memory.

Transcranial Direct Current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive and painless electrical stimulation technique that has demonstrated to accelerate learning and improve memory in some studies. Previous research has also emphasized the importance of repeated retrieval practice as a way to accelerate learning and enhance associative memory performance. Therefore, this study will examine the effect of repeated retrieval practice on associative memory performance by using two versions of an associative memory task.

To investigate whether it is possible to accelerate learning and improve associative memory using tDCS and repeated retrieval practice, the performance in a Verbal Paired-Associate memory task during the first visit and 1 week after will be compared for four study groups. The first group will get active tDCS during a version of the verbal paired-associate learning task with repeated retrieval practice. The second group will get active tDCS during a version of the verbal paired-associate learning task without repeated retrieval practice. The third group will get sham tDCS during a version of the verbal paired-associate learning task with repeated retrieval practice and the fourth group will get Sham tDCS during a version of the verbal paired-associate learning task without repeated retrieval practice.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Age: 18-35 years
* Native English Speaker

Exclusion Criteria:

* History of severe head injuries,epileptic insults, or heart disease
* Severe psychiatric disorders and severe untreated medical problems.
* Acquainted with the foreign language used in the learning task
* Contraindications for tDCS (pregnant women, implanted devices)

Primary outcomes:
measure: Associative Memory assessed by a Verbal Paired-Associate memory test
timeFrame: baseline and 1 week after the tDCS
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Richardson
country: United States
facility: The University of Texas of Dallas
state: Texas
Study officials:
affiliation: The University of Texas at Dallas
name: Sven Vanneste
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: