Previous studies showed that transcranial electric stimulation (tES) applied over the prefrontal cortex improves cognitive performance in healthy elderly adults as well as in patients suffering from mild cognitive impairment or early Alzheimer's disease. Therefore, tES methods might be a useful intervention tool for patients suffering from memory impairment in early terms of the disease. The present study aims at establishing a connection between the stimulation-induced changes on associative memory performance and its underlying neurophysiological parameters. tES effects and their underlying mechanisms will be compared between healthy elderly controls and clinical study populations receiving either real or sham tES over the left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex during an associative memory task.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
DOUBLE
Enrollment
28
The MR-compatible neuroConn DC-Stimulator MR (neuroCare Group, Ilmenau, Germany) will be used.
The MR-compatible neuroConn DC-Stimulator MR (neuroCare Group, Ilmenau, Germany) will be used.
The MR-compatible neuroConn DC-Stimulator MR (neuroCare Group, Ilmenau, Germany) will be used.
University Hospital of Old Age Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
Bern, Switzerland
Performance on immediate cued recall task
Number of correct responses on retrieval task of previously learned associative memory items
Time frame: 20 min
Performance on delayed cued recall task
Number of correct responses on retrieval task of previously learned associative memory items
Time frame: 24 hours
task-dependent BOLD activity
Measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
Time frame: 20 min
resting-state BOLD activity
Measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
Time frame: 10 min
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