Closed-Loop Brain Stimulation as a Potential Intervention for Cognitive Decline
Eligible age
18–90 yrs
Accepts
All genders
Locations
1 state
Healthy volunteers
Yes
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About this study
The goal of this clinical study is to investigate the effectiveness of non-invasive stimulation to enhance cognitive control abilities in older adults with and without cognitive impairment. The main questions it aims to answer are: * whether it is possible to restore various cognitive functions in older adults by delivering theta burst stimulation (TBS), a form of transcranial magnetic stimulation, and * whether closed-loop TBS is able to induce therapeutic benefits that outperform open-loop TBS. Participants play a cognitive video game while a brain-computer interface (BCI) analyzes their electroencephalogram (EEG) signals and decodes the presence or absence of the contingent negative variation (CNV) potential, a marker of cognitive control. The BCI triggers TBS when its outputs indicate that the participant is not engaged properly in the video game. Researchers will compare the effects of closed-loop and open-loop TBS using the outcome metrics described below to see how much cognitive restorations is achievable with each stimulation modality.
Sponsor: University of Texas at Austin
You may qualify if…
- ✓ Older adults
- ✓ 1. Ages between 60 to 90 years
- ✓ 2. Good general health
- ✓ 3. Normal or corrected vision
- ✓ 4. Completed elementary school education or able to understand middle school level experiment instructions
- ✓ 5. Self reports cognitive complaints
- ✓ Cognitively normal young adults
- ✓ 1. Ages between 18 to 35 years
You may not qualify if…
- ✕ 1. Self-report of neurological or psychiatric diseases that could be contraindicated for TMS (e.g., personal history of epilepsy/seizure brain damage, history of fainting, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, current substance use disorder, etc.).
- ✕ 2. Medications that elevate seizure threshold (e.g., stimulant medication, high dose bupropion).
- ✕ 3. Factors hindering EEG acquisition and rTMS delivery (e.g., skin infection, wounds, dermatitis, unable to access the scalp of the participant (e.g., unremovable wig).
- ✕ 4. Current participation in amyloid infusion treatment for Alzheimer's disease.
- ✕ 5. Do not have the capacity to provide informed consent and does not have a Legally Authorized Representative.
- ✕ 6. Resting motor threshold below the power limit in the laboratory. (Will be check on the first visit)
Where it's recruiting
Austin
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · NCT05907343 · last updated 2026-09-02