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Traumatic Brain InjurySTIM-CTBINCT06848140

Using Non-invasive Brain Stimulation to Treat Word Finding Difficulty in Chronic Traumatic Brain Injury

A study testing Active Transcranial direct current stimulation in people with Traumatic Brain Injury and Word Finding Difficulty, run by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center at 1 site in United States.

Recruiting

Looking for participants now. Contact the study team or a site below to ask about taking part.

Sites and contacts
Official record
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Trial summary

The purpose of this study is to learn more about how brain stimulation affects word finding problems in people who have a traumatic brain injury (TBI). The type of brain stimulation used is called transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 to 85 years
What is being tested?
Active Transcranial direct current stimulation
Type of treatment
Medical device
Could I receive a placebo?
Yes, some participants may receive a placebo
How many people
24 participants
Where
1 siteUnited States
Study dates
1 Oct 2025to 30 Apr 2028
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
Not yet: the study is under way

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 18 to 85 years
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Age between 18 and 85
  • Fluent in speaking and reading English
  • Able to provide informed consent
  • Has a TBI at least one year prior to enrollment and not related to military experience
  • Has a confirmation of verbal retrieval difficulties as measured by the Verbal Retrieval Difficulty Interview questions

Who cannot join

  • Lifetime major or active neurologic conditions (e.g., stroke, epilepsy, brain tumor, dementia, seizure occurrence less than one year ago)
  • Lifetime major or active cardiovascular conditions (e.g., cardiac arrythmia, heart failure, heart attack)
  • Current substance use disorder
  • Lifetime major psychiatric disorders (e.g., schizophrenia, bipolar disorder)
  • Severe depression at the time of enrollment (BDI-II >= 29) or psychiatric ER visits or hospitalization less than 6 months ago prior to enrollment
  • Current sensory (e.g., blind, deaf) or physical (e.g., severe motor weakness) impairment that interferes with testing
Show all 13Show fewer
  • Contraindications for tDCS or MRI
  • The person cannot be left alone for 8+ hours.
  • Not verbally communicative.
  • Currently undergoing and not wishing to discontinue speech and cognitive therapy during study participation.
  • Incapable of understanding the consent or unable to consent for oneself.
  • Unable to travel to BIDMC's Berenson-Allen Center
  • Pregnancy

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.

Hsueh-Sheng Chiang, MD, PhD contact

hchiang3@bidmc.harvard.edu

United States1 site, 1 recruiting
  • Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

    Boston, Massachusetts, 02215

    Iris Hall, BS, 617-667-0289, ihall1@bidmc.harvard.edu

    Hsueh-Sheng Chiang, MD, PhD, hchiang3@bidmc.harvard.edu

    Recruiting

Other trials in United States

About this study

Official title: Using High Definition Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation to Treat Verbal Retrieval Deficits Secondary to Chronic Traumatic Brain Injury (STIM-CTBI)

The purpose of this study is to learn more about how brain stimulation affects word finding problems in people who have a traumatic brain injury (TBI). The type of brain stimulation used is called transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). tDCS delivers low levels of electric current to the brain and high definition tDCS (HD-tDCS) delivers the current with multiple electrodes on the scalp. This current is delivered with HD-tDCS to parts of the brain that may help with remembering things. The investigators hope that this can help to improve word finding and memory problems in people with TBI.

Read the detailed description

The investigators plan to recruit English-speaking participants aged 18-85 years with a history of chronic TBI (> 1 year since injury prior to enrollment), all of whom have problems with cognition. The participants will be randomized to receive (1) active first followed by sham HD-tDCS condition, or (2) sham first followed by active condition in order to assess the efficacy of HD-tDCS on improving verbal retrieval function. The randomization will be double-blinded to the participants and the research personnel who administer the procedures. The study therefore adopts a double-blind randomized cross-over design. The proposed study will measure response to HD-tDCS treatment over the pre-supplementary motor area (preSMA) region when compared to sham with verbal retrieval function (verbal fluency, naming, verbal learning) as the primary outcome. Secondary outcome measures include cognitive performance other than verbal retrieval function and electroencephalography (EEG) measures. The participants will receive two phases of 10 sessions of active stimulation (1 mA anodal HD-tDCS targeting preSMA for 20 min) or sham across 2 weeks. All participants will be blinded to their condition. EEG and neuropsychological tasks will be completed at baseline, immediate follow-up after session 10, and a 2-month follow-up. The participants will also undergo an MRI session at baseline. Those participants randomized into the active or sham group will have the opportunity to return after 2 months and receive sham (if active first) or active (if sham first) treatment and will undergo the EEG and neuropsychological tests again immediately following the last HD-tDCS session and at a 2-month follow-up.

Being tested
Active Transcranial direct current stimulation, Sham Transcranial direct current stimulation
Medical subject headings
Brain Injuries, Traumatic, Anomia, Neurobehavioral Manifestations, Brain Injuries

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Active Transcranial direct current stimulationDevice

    Also called tDCS, 1 milliamp tDCS, High definition tDCS, High definition transcranial direct current stimulator, Neuroelectrics Starstim 20 or 32

    Transcranial direct current stimulation will be delivered via a Neuroelectrics Starstim 20 or 32. Stimulation will consist of 1 milliamp stimulation, with anodal stimulation delivered at electrode Fz (International 10/10 System for electroencephalography electrode placement) and electrodes F7, FP1, FP2, and F8 as returns. All electrodes are 1 cm diameter Ag/AgCl electrodes and make contact with the scalp via connective gel. Stimulation will linearly ramp up from 0 milliamps to 1 milliamp over 60 seconds, then remain at 1 milliamp of stimulation over 20 minutes, and finally ramping down at to 0 milliamps over 60 seconds.

  • Sham Transcranial direct current stimulationDevice

    Sham transcranial direct current stimulation will be delivered via a Neuroelectrics Starstim 20 or 32. The sham setup will consist of anodal electrode Fz (International 10/10 System for electroencephalography electrode placement) and electrodes F7, FP1, FP2, and F8 as returns. All electrodes are 1 cm diameter Ag/AgCl electrodes and make contact with the scalp via connective gel. Stimulation will linearly ramp up from 0 milliamps to 1 milliamp over 60 seconds, ramp down to 0 milliamps over 60 seconds and then be left off for 20 minutes.

Study groups in NCT06848140
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Active to Sham Transcranial direct current stimulationExperimentalSubjects in this arm will first be randomly assigned to receive active stimulation. After completion of active stimulation, subjects will be assigned to sham stimulation.
Receives: Device: Active Transcranial direct current stimulation; Device: Sham Transcranial direct current stimulation
Sham to Active transcranial direct current stimulationExperimentalSubjects in this arm will first be randomly assigned to receive sham stimulation. After completion of sham stimulation, subjects will be assigned to active stimulation.
Receives: Device: Active Transcranial direct current stimulation; Device: Sham Transcranial direct current stimulation

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. The Controlled Oral Word Association Test - letter fluency

    Evaluation of treatment differences (active versus sham) in change on the Control Word Association Test. Metric: Number of Correct Items Generated

    Measured: Treatment differences (active versus sham) in change from Baseline to immediately and 2-months Post-Treatment.

  2. The Controlled Oral Word Association Test - category fluency

    Evaluation of treatment differences (active versus sham) in change on Category Fluency. Metric: Number of Correct Items Generated

    Measured: Treatment differences (active versus sham) in change from Baseline to immediately and 2-months Post-Treatment.

  3. The Boston Naming Test

    Evaluation of treatment differences (active versus sham) in change on The Boston Naming Test. Metric: Number of Correct Items Generated.

    Measured: Treatment differences (active versus sham) in change from Baseline to immediately and 2-months Post-Treatment.

  4. The Delis Kaplan Color Word Interference Test

    Evaluation of treatment differences (active versus sham) in change on the Delis Kaplan Color Word Interference Test. Metric: Time to Name Items

    Measured: Treatment differences (active versus sham) in change from Baseline to immediately and 2-months Post-Treatment.

  5. Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test and alternative lists

    Evaluation of treatment differences (active versus sham) in change in Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test. Metric: Number of Total learning items and Correct Recalls.

    Measured: Treatment differences (active versus sham) in change from Baseline to immediately and 2-months Post-Treatment.

Secondary outcomes (6)
  1. The Trail Making Test (Parts A & B)

    Evaluation of treatment differences (active versus sham) in change on the Trail Making Test (Parts A\&B). Metric: Time to Solution

    Measured: Treatment differences (active versus sham) in change from Baseline to immediately and 2-months Post-Treatment.

  2. Digit Span Forward & Backward

    Evaluation of treatment differences (active versus sham) in change in Digit Span Forward \& Backward. Metric: Memory Span

    Measured: Treatment differences (active versus sham) in change from Baseline to immediately and 2-months Post-Treatment.

  3. Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test

    Evaluation of treatment differences (active versus sham) in change in Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test scores. Metric: Score

    Measured: Treatment differences (active versus sham) in change from Baseline to immediately and 2-months Post-Treatment.

  4. The Digit Symbol Substitution Test

    Evaluation of treatment differences (active versus sham) in change on the Digit Symbol Substitution Test. Metric: Number of Items

    Measured: Treatment differences (active versus sham) in change from Baseline to immediately and 2-months Post-Treatment.

  5. Task-based electroencephalography (EEG) markers during a Go-NoGo task

    Evaluation of treatment differences (active versus sham) in EEG change on a Go-NoGo task with different levels of perceptual/semantic complexity. Metric: event-related potentials and time frequency changes.

    Measured: Treatment differences (active versus sham) in change from Baseline to immediately and 2-months Post-Treatment.

  6. Task-based electroencephalography (EEG) markers during a Semantic Object Memory Retrieval task

    Evaluation of treatment differences (active versus sham) in EEG change on a Semantic Object Retrieval task. Metric: event-related potentials and time frequency changes.

    Measured: Treatment differences (active versus sham) in change from Baseline to immediately and 2-months Post-Treatment.

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted26 Feb 2025
  2. Study start1 Oct 2025
  3. Primary completion30 Apr 2028 (estimated)
  4. Study completion30 Apr 2028 (estimated)

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Crossover
Model description
The participants will be randomly assigned to 1 of 2 treatment arms: (1) 1 milliamp transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) active treatment applied to pre-supplementary motor area for 20 minutes over 10 sessions to (2) sham tDCS following the same schedule.
Masking
Triple blind
Who is masked
Participant, Care provider, Outcomes assessor
Enrolment
24 participants (estimated)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT06848140
Sponsor's protocol ID
2025P000171
Other IDs
4R00DC020185-03
Acronym
STIM-CTBI
Status last verified
Oct 2025
First submitted
21 Feb 2025
Last updated
21 Oct 2025
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
Yes
Individual data sharing
Yes: Individual participant data (IPD) will be shared in a de-identified format in accordance with NIH data-sharing policies and institutional guidelines.

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Active Transcranial direct current stimulation in people with Traumatic Brain Injury and Word Finding Difficulty, run by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center at 1 site in United States.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 5 inclusion and 13 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: looking for participants now, as of the sponsor's last update on 21 Oct 2025. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

Contact Iris Hall, BS (617-667-0289, ihall1@bidmc.harvard.edu), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

The Controlled Oral Word Association Test - letter fluency (time frame: Treatment differences (active versus sham) in change from Baseline to immediately and 2-months Post-Treatment.). The study lists 5 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 21 Oct 2025.

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