Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Treatment of Cognitive Dysfunction in Parkinson's Disease

Status: Recruiting
Location: See location...
Intervention Type: Device
Study Type: Interventional
Study Phase: Not Applicable
SUMMARY

Parkinson's disease (PD) has been classically regarded as a movement disorder, so earlier work has focused on treating motor symptoms only. As PD patients now have longer life expectancy, the relatively slowly progressing cognitive deficits (compared to their motor deficits) have become one of the major challenges. Approximately 80% of PD patients eventually become demented. Therefore cognitive dysfunction is one of the most significant factors affecting the quality of life of patients with PD. While dementia in Parkinson's disease is routinely treated by cholinesterase inhibitors (e.g., donepezil and rivastigmine), their efficacy on mild cognitive impairment found in non-demented PD is questionable. Alternative approaches have been proposed including transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) but no consensus has been reached. This can be attributed mainly to: (1) imprecise knowledge of the underlying functional circuitry mediating this disease manifestation and (2) inter-individual variability. Here, the investigators will utilize a novel personalized network analysis approach to elucidate on the underlying mechanisms of the effect of tDCS on cognitive dysfunction in non-demented PD patients. It has been well documented that the caudate nucleus plays an important role in cognitive dysfunction found in PD. In the investigators' preliminary resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, they have shown that the connectivity of the right caudate nucleus is correlated to cognitive status of PD patients measured by the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). The investigators hypothesize that tDCS on the left and/or right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex may restore the functional connectivity of the right caudate nucleus which may in turn improve patients' cognitive performance.

Eligibility
Participation Requirements
Sex: All
Minimum Age: 40
Healthy Volunteers: f
View:

• Patients must meet diagnostic criteria for idiopathic Parkinson's disease, defined as the presence of two or more of the cardinal clinical features of PD in the absence of known causes of parkinsonism such as encephalitis or neuroleptic treatment

• Ability to provide written informed consent

• defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; DSM-5)

• Age \> 40

• fluent in English.

• Patients' cognitive statuses will be evaluated by the participating neuropsychiatrist or a trained psychiatry or neurology resident.

Locations
Other Locations
Canada
University of Manitoba
RECRUITING
Winnipeg
Contact Information
Primary
Ji Hyun Ko, PhD
ji.ko@umanitoba.ca
204-318-2566
Time Frame
Start Date: 2017-03-22
Estimated Completion Date: 2025-08-31
Participants
Target number of participants: 36
Treatments
Sham_comparator: Sham tDCS
sham tDCS (30sec ramp-up and 3sec ramp-down)
Active_comparator: Real tDCS right
Real anodal tDCS (right DLPFC)
Sponsors
Collaborators: Parkinson Society Canada
Leads: University of Manitoba

This content was sourced from clinicaltrials.gov