What is the Best Way to Give tDCS to People with Alzheimer's Disease?

Principal Investigator
Carlos Roncero, PhD
Baycrest Academy for Research and Education
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
About the Research Project
Program
Award Type
Standard
Award Amount
$243,196
Active Dates
July 01, 2022 - June 30, 2025
Grant ID
A2022046S
Goals
We will investigate if a higher tDCS intensity level will produce stronger results in people with Alzheimer’s Disease and collect participant information to identify who best responds to tDCS
Summary
Transcranial Direct Current stimulation (tDCS) is a new potential therapy for improving the quality of life for people living with Alzheimer’s Disease. Further work is needed for understanding how tDCS could be optimized and which individuals are the best candidates for receiving this form of therapy. The proposed project will test a new intensity level of tDCS that may produce stronger results in people with Alzheimer’s Disease and collect participant information to identify who best responds to tDCS. These results will help us optimize and tailor tDCS for people with Alzheimer’s Disease.
Unique and Innovative
Most tDCS studies give tDCS at an intensity level of 2 mA, but a small number of studies find tDCS is more effective if the intensity level is 4 mA. However, no previous study has examined if this higher intensity level would produce superior results when given to people with Alzheimer’s Disease. Therefore, the proposed project will be the first to compare the effectiveness of 2 mA versus 4 mA tDCS for improving the quality of life in people with Alzheimer’s Disease. do so and can lead to a new and improved method for giving tDCS to people with Alzheimer’s Disease.
Foreseeable Benefits
The number of studies investigating tDCS as a therapy for dementia remains small, and the optimal parameters are unknown. We also observe differences in improvement among participants but cannot predict which individuals will benefit the most from tDCS. The proposed project aims to fill this knowledge gap by investigating how different variables impact the effectiveness of tDCS. Therefore, the proposed project will provide a significant step forward towards finding the optimized montage for people with Alzheimer’s disease, which will serve as an essential step towards future clinical trials.
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