Could a Head-Zap at home boost your brain?
NCT ID NCT05978804
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study tested whether a gentle, non-invasive brain stimulation technique (tDCS) done at home, along with computer-based brain games, could improve thinking and language skills in people with primary progressive aphasia, mild cognitive impairment, or dementia. Participants used a headset to stimulate a key brain area while doing cognitive exercises. The study aimed to see if this approach could ease symptoms like memory loss and language difficulties.
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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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36 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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Aug 2023
- Finished
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Sep 2025
- 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 to 90 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: * Must be clinically diagnosed with PPA, fronto-temporal dementia (FTD), MCI or mild Alzheimer's disease (AD). Diagnosis will be based on neuropsychological testing, language testing (most commonly the Western Aphasia Battery), MRI, and clinical assessment. * Must be right-handed. * Must be proficient in English. * Must have a minimum high-school education. Exclusion Criteria: * Uncorrected visual or hearing impairment by self-report. * Stroke/other premorbid neurological disorder affecting the brain. * Any other developmental language-based learning disorder other than PPA. * Inability to follow directions for baseline tasks. * Pre-existing psychiatric disorders such as behavioral disturbances, severe depression, and schizophrenia that do not allow them to comply or follow the study schedule and requirements such as repeated evaluation and therapy will be excluded. Exclusion Criteria for MRI participation: * Severe claustrophobia. * Cardiac pacemakers or ferromagnetic implants. * Pregnant women.
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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.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, Maryland, 21287, United States
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