Brain zaps for TBI: early stimulation may boost thinking skills
NCT ID NCT06871124
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study looks at how brain activity changes as people recover from a moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). It also tests whether giving a gentle electrical stimulation to the brain (called anodal transcranial electrical stimulation) early after injury can improve thinking and memory. Sixty adults with TBI will be randomly assigned to receive either real or fake stimulation during cognitive tasks, and their progress will be tracked for 6 months. The goal is to learn the best timing for this therapy to help the brain heal.
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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 60 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Jun 2025
- Expected to finish
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Apr 2028
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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18 to 80 years
- 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.
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Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: 1. Moderate to severe TBI: Glasgow Coma Scale (GSC) in the 3-12 range and greater than 30 min of loss of consciousness and/or a post-traumatic amnesia that lasts more than 24 hours and/or an alteration of mental state over 24 hours, 2. age 18-80 years, 3. Isolated TBI, 4. Intelligible speech and Galveston Orientation and Amnesia Test (GOAT) score \>70 at time of enrollment. Exclusion Criteria: 1. Persistent bilateral non-reactive pupils or other evidence of non-survivable injury, 2. Decompressive craniectomy to treat refractory ICP subsequent to diffuse injury, (3) Co-enrollment in another therapeutic TBI trial, (4) Pregnancy, (5) Patients with polytrauma (6) Patients with clinical seizures or status epilepticus.
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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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University of Cincinnati
RECRUITINGCincinnati, Ohio, 45219, United States
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Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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