Shock and step: brain zaps may boost stroke rehab
NCT ID NCT06769672
First seen Jun 25, 2026 · Last updated Sep 18, 2026 · Updated 3 times
Summary
This study tests whether combining a gentle brain stimulation technique (tDCS) with exercises that challenge both thinking and walking can improve how stroke survivors handle doing two things at once. Seventy-two participants who had a stroke at least six months ago will receive either real or fake tDCS along with training sessions over four weeks. Researchers will measure walking speed, mental performance, and brain activity changes to see if the combo works better than training alone.
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) combined with dual-task exercise training
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could point toward a new rehab approach that helps stroke survivors walk and think at the same time more easily.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small, early-stage study (72 people) testing a combination therapy. The effects may be modest or not translate to real-world improvements, and tDCS can cause mild scalp discomfort.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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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
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About 72 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Jan 2025
- Expected to finish
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Dec 2026
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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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
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50 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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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 Hide 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: * a diagnosis of stroke, stroke onset of more than 6 months, * aged 50 or more, * capable of following verbal and visual instructions, * having a Montreal Cognitive Assessment score ≥ 22, * able to walk for 10 meters with/without a mobility aid, * community-dwelling, unilateral stroke Exclusion Criteria: * neurological disorders, gait-precluding pain or comorbidity, * receiving any formal rehabilitation training, * contraindications to exercise (e.g., unstable angina), * contraindications to fNIRS, MRI, and tDCS (e.g., brain skin injury, pacemaker, metal implants in the brain), * history of seizure or epilepsy, * color blindness. * unable to walk with/without a mobility aid while responsing stimulus by the remote control
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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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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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
RECRUITINGHong Kong, Hong Kong
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