Cumulative and Booster Effects of Multisession Prefrontal tDCS in Adolescents With ASD
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation, Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Electroencephalography
About this trial
This is an interventional treatment trial for Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation focused on measuring Autism, ASD, tDCS, Treatment outcome, EEG, E/I ratio, Booster effects, Cognitive function
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
- Individuals who are confirmed by a clinical psychologist based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5th Ed (DSM-V) criteria of Autism spectrum disorder and structured interview with their parents or primary caregivers on their developmental history using the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R).
Exclusion Criteria:
- Individuals without a confirmed diagnosis from the clinical psychologist, with a history of other neurological and psychiatric disorders and head trauma, or on psychiatric medication will be excluded from the study.
Sites / Locations
- The Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityRecruiting
Arms of the Study
Arm 1
Arm 2
Arm 3
Experimental
Experimental
Experimental
Active cathodal (inhibitory) tDCS vs. Sham-tDCS condition
Active booster tDCS treatment vs. Sham booster tDCS treatment
Change in EEG E/I ratios in the active tDCS vs. sham tDCS groups
Experimental group: active multisession tDCS + active booster tDCS vs Active control group: sham multisession tDCS + sham booster tDCS To test whether active cathodal [inhibitory] tDCS over the left dlPRC will facilitate learning through stimulation and thus improve cognitive function in patients with ASD, the primary outcomes (SRS-2 scores) of the two groups at the start (T0), 1-month (T1), 3-month (T2), 6-month (T3), and at the end of study i.e. 12-months (T4) will be compared.
Experimental group: active multisession tDCS + active booster tDCS vs Active control group: active multisession tDCS + sham booster tDCS To test whether booster treatment cycles of tDCS will prolong the cognitive benefits in individuals with ASD), the primary outcome, the total SRS-2 score, and the secondary outcomes, the E/I ratio and the cognitive composite score at the start (T0), 1-month (T1), 3-month (T2), 6-month (T3), and at the end of study i.e. 12-months (T4), will be compared.
Experimental group: active multisession tDCS + active booster tDCS vs Active control group: sham multisession tDCS + sham booster tDCS To test whether enhanced neuronal network organization, as indicated by EEG E/I ratios, in patients with ASD will mediate the beneficial effects of tDCS in terms of improvements in cognitive function, measurements taken at baseline, 1-day and 1-month after tDCS treatment will be compared. The change in EEG E/I ratios in patients in the active tDCS and sham tDCS groups will be compared using E/I ratios averaged from channels Fp1, F3, and F7 to increase the signal-to-noise ratio of the EEG data and to represent the left frontal E/I ratio.