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Grants > What is the Best Way to Give tDCS to People with Alzheimer's Disease? Updated On: Feb. 2, 2025
Alzheimer's Disease Research Grant

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

Translational Research & Clinical Interventions
a headshot of Dr. Roncero

Principal Investigator

Carlos Roncero, PhD

Baycrest Academy for Research and Education

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

About the Research Project

Program

Alzheimer's Disease Research

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.