Brain stimulation may boost foot feeling and balance in seniors

NCT ID NCT06771531

Knowledge-focused Sponsor: Hebrew SeniorLife Source: ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

First seen Jun 25, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026 · Updated 1 time

Summary

This study tests whether a gentle, noninvasive brain stimulation technique called tDCS can improve foot sensation, balance, and walking in older adults who have mild-to-moderate numbness in their feet. Twenty volunteers aged 65 and older will receive either real or sham stimulation while researchers measure how steady they stand and how quickly they walk. The goal is to understand if boosting brain activity can help compensate for lost foot feeling.

What this could mean

Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.

Active substance: transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)
What this could lead to: If successful, this could point toward a non-drug way to improve balance and reduce fall risk in older adults with foot numbness.
What could go wrong: This is a very small, early-stage study (20 people) testing a short-term effect. It may not lead to a lasting treatment or work for everyone.

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Study facts

What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.

Phase

Not a phased trial

Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.

Participants

About 20 people

The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.

Started

Feb 2026

Expected to finish

Dec 2026

An estimate. End dates often move.

Lead sponsor

Other sponsor

The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.

Who can take part

This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.

Ages

65 years and older

Sex

Anyone

Healthy volunteers

Not accepted

This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.

Show the full entry requirements

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: 1. Aged ≥65 years. 2. Self-reported feeling of unsteadiness or difficulty when standing and walking. 3. Mild-to-moderate foot-sole somatosensory impairment: the ability to perceive 75g monofilament but inability to perceive 10g monofilament. Exclusion Criteria: 1. self-reported inability to stand or walk continuously for one minute without personal assistance (canes or walkers allowed); 2. history or presence of foot ulceration, amputation, or deformities; 3. self-reported uncontrolled pain or pain that is associated with mobility disability; 4. uncontrolled diabetes mellitus; 5. hospitalization within the past three months due to acute illness, or as the result of a musculoskeletal injury significantly affecting balance; 6. persistent severe pain of lower extremity when standing or walking; 7. diagnosis of dementia, Parkinson's disease, or stroke that affects balance; 8. unstable medical condition; 9. legal blindness or deafness; 10. uncontrolled hypertension (i.e., systolic BP \>180, diastolic BP \>100 mm Hg, or prescription of ≥3 anti-hypertensive medications); 11. functionally limiting nephropathy, severe diseases or transplant of the kidney or liver, renal or congestive heart failure; 12. active cancer treatment; 13. balance disorders due to past use of chemotherapy or history of Guillain-Barré syndrome; 14. use of neuro-active or recreational drugs (e.g., sedatives, anti-psychotics), or alcohol abuse, which may affect the brain excitability; 15. contraindications to MRI or tDCS (e.g., personal or family history of seizures or epilepsy, metallic or electric bio-implants, claustrophobia, brain surgery); 16. persistent vertigo; 17. history of Charcot-Marie-Tooth nerve disease.

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As listed by the trial registrant

The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.

Balance control Mobility Somatosensory function

How to take part

Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.

The places running it

1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
The official record

ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.

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Brain stimulation may boost foot feeling and balance in seniors

What the study statuses mean