At a glance
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A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation to Improve the Cognitive Functions in Older Adults
In Brief
A clinical study evaluating T1 TENS, Concha TENS, and 1 other intervention for Mild Cognitive Impairment. Completed, enrolled 90 participants across 1 site.
Detailed Summary
Recent evidence has shown that transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) was effective in improving the cognitive function in healthy adult and people with dementia. However, lacking of evidence investigated the effect of TENS in improving the cognitive function and reversing the occurrence of dementia during the period of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), which is the crucial period to prevent the significant loss of cognition function. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to investigate the optimal TENS treatment protocol in improving the cognitive function in older adults with MCI.
Study Details
Timeline
Interventions
The subjects in Group A will received TENS (Burst mode, 9 pulses per burst, pulse frequency =160Hz, burst frequency=2Hz, intensity was set to trigger visible muscular twitches). Two 2 x 3 cm electrodes was attached on T1 level with 2 cm from the spine. Previous study has shown that it was effective to improve the cognitive function in subjects with Alzheimer's disease.
The subjects in Group B will received TENS (25Hz, 0.5mA) on the concha of left outer ear. The electrical stimulation was generated by the portable neurostimulator (Nemos®, Cerbomed, Erlangen, Germany) and was delivered by a titanium electrodes positioning on top of a silicon earplug. Previous study has shown that it was effective to improve the Accelerate extinction memory formation and retention in healthy young adults.
The subjects in Group C will receive 30 min sham electrical stimulation on T1 by a placebo-TENS device. The Placebo-TENS was applied by an apparently identical TENS unit. The unit's power indicator light was illuminated, but the unit's electrical circuit had been manually disconnected inside. In order to shape the common mindset, all subjects (except those in the Control group) were informed that they might or might not feel an electrical current, as different stimulation parameters were being applied.