A Pilot Double-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial of Cognitive Training Combined with Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment

Background: There is currently no effective intervention for improving memory in people at increased risk for dementia. Cognitive training (CT) has been promising, though effects are modest, particularly at follow-up. Objective: To investigate whether adjunctive non-invasive brain stimulation (trans...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Alzheimer's disease 2019-01, Vol.71 (2), p.503-512
Main Authors: Martin, Donel M., Mohan, Adith, Alonzo, Angelo, Gates, Nicola, Gbadeyan, Oyetunde, Meinzer, Marcus, Sachdev, Perminder, Brodaty, Henry, Loo, Colleen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alzheimer's disease
Biological effects
Clinical trials
Cognitive ability
Cognitive tasks
Dementia disorders
Direct current
Double-blind studies
Electrical stimulation of the brain
ESB
Impairment
Intervention
Memory
Pilot training
Randomization
Stimulation
Training
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Summary:Background: There is currently no effective intervention for improving memory in people at increased risk for dementia. Cognitive training (CT) has been promising, though effects are modest, particularly at follow-up. Objective: To investigate whether adjunctive non-invasive brain stimulation (transcranial direct current stimulation, tDCS) could enhance the memory benefits of CT in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). Methods: Participants with aMCI were randomized to receive CT with either Active tDCS (2 mA for 30 min and 0.016 mA for 30 min) or Sham tDCS (0.016 mA for 60 min) for 15 sessions over a period of 5 weeks in a double-blind, sham-controlled, parallel group clinical trial. The primary outcome measure was the California Verbal Learning Task 2nd Edition. Results: 68 participants commenced the intervention. Intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis showed that the CT+Active tDCS group significantly improved at post treatment (p = 0.033), and the CT+Sham tDCS group did not (p = 0.050), but there was no difference between groups. At the 3-month follow-up, both groups showed large-sized memory improvements compared to pre-treatment (CT+Active tDCS: p 
ISSN:1387-2877
1875-8908
DOI:10.3233/JAD-190306