This study evaluates the effects of multi-session transcranial direct current stimulation on loneliness, mood and depressiveness in people with subthreshold depression.
Depression-prone individuals will be invited and allocated to three groups, either the personalised transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) group, the conventional tDCS group, or the sham control group. After screening and at baseline prior to the tDCS sessions, participants will complete tests and questionnaires on depression symptoms, loneliness and mood. Eligible participants will also be invited to receive functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in a 3-Tesla MRI scanner. There will be a maximum of 10 sessions to be completed after the screening and baseline measures. For both personalised tDCS group and the conventional tDCS group, tDCS with 2 milliampere (mA) intensity will be delivered for 20 minutes in each session. For sham control group, the protocol will be similar, except that the stimulation only happens in the first 30 seconds in each session. Especially for participants allocated to the personalised tDCS group, the stimulation site for each individual in this group may vary, depending on their brain activations and connectivity. The anodal stimulation sites for participants allocated to the conventional tDCS group and the sham control group will be F3 within the left DLPFC. Immediately after and also 3-months after completing all the tDCS sessions, participants will be invited to complete again tests and questionnaires on depressive symptoms in addition to loneliness and mood. Eligible participants will also be invited to receive functional MRI scanning in the 3T MRI scanner again. Participants will also be prompted to self-report daily their loneliness and mood levels throughout the study.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE
Enrollment
204
This study will deliver tDCS sessions for a maximum of ten sessions in two weeks' time. Participants will receive 20 minutes of active stimulation with a 2mA intensity over personalized brain regions based on the particular neural correlates of socio-affective processing.
This study will deliver tDCS sessions for a maximum of ten sessions in two weeks' time. Participants assigned to the sham control group will only receive 30 seconds of active stimulation.
The Education University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
RECRUITINGChanges in self-reported loneliness
Loneliness is assessed based on the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) loneliness scale and single item, in which higher scores indicate greater degrees of loneliness.
Time frame: From baseline to after the last tDCS session; from baseline to 3 months after the last tDCS session
Changes in depressive symptoms
Depressive symptoms are assessed based on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, a 14-item scale assessing severity of depressive and anxiety symptom (score range 0 - 21 for both subscale), with a higher scores indicating higher severity
Time frame: From baseline to after the last tDCS session; from baseline to 3 months after the last tDCS session
Changes in anxiety symptoms
Anxiety symptoms are assessed based on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, a 14-item scale assessing severity of depressive and anxiety symptom (score range 0 - 21 for both subscale), with a higher scores indicating higher severity
Time frame: From baseline to after the last tDCS session; from baseline to 3 months after the last tDCS session
Changes in self-reported mood
Mood is assessed based on the Chinese Affect Scale, a 20-item 5-point Likert scale where participants rate the degree to which they currently feel the listed affects (scoring for each item: 0 = no at all; 4 = very).
Time frame: From baseline to after the last tDCS session; from baseline to 3 months after the last tDCS session
Changes in brain activation and connectivity
Neural activities and connectivity in Ventral Attention Network, Frontoparietal Network, and Default Mode Network are assessed by functional MRI
Time frame: From baseline to after the last tDCS session; from baseline to 3 months after the last tDCS session
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This study will deliver tDCS sessions for a maximum of ten sessions in two weeks' time. Participants will receive 20 minutes of active stimulation with a 2mA intensity with anode placed over F3.