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Personalized Brain Stimulation for Mild Cognitive Impairment

This study is testing a personalized brain stimulation method called active tES (transcranial electrical stimulation) combined with cognitive exercises for people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The goal is to see if this approach can improve memory and language skills. Researchers will use your brain activity (measured by EEG, or electroencephalogram) and AI (artificial intelligence) to customize the stimulation to your specific needs. To join, you must be between 45 and 85 years old, speak English, have a high school education, and have a diagnosis of probable Alzheimer's Disease (AD) with specific biomarker results. The study will measure changes in your ability to recall words immediately after the intervention and one month later. The current status of this study is unclear.

Study design
This is an interventional study with a planned enrollment of 10 participants. It is testing a personalized brain stimulation and cognitive training program.
What's involved
You would participate in daily 30-minute sessions for three weeks. These sessions involve personalized brain stimulation and cognitive exercises.
Compensation
Not stated in the trial record.
Follow-up
Your memory will be tested immediately after the intervention and again one month later.

AI-generated from the public study record. Only the study team can confirm whether you're eligible — confirm details with them before making decisions.

NCT07512193

Personalized Closed-Loop Brain Stimulation for Patients With Mild Cognitive Impairment

Not Yet Recruiting
NAAges 45–85InterventionalTreatment
Johns Hopkins University
~10 participants
Updated 2026-08-06 on ClinicalTrials.gov
What's tested:Active tESCognitive Interventions

At a glance

Recruiting sites
0 of 1 listed site is recruiting right now
RecruitingSuspended, closed, or not yet open
What they're measuring
Change in auditory recall accuracy based on the sum of words recalled in Trials 1-5 of semantically related - trained word-lists
Measured over Before intervention, immediately after intervention and 1 month post intervention
+7 more outcomes measured

Conditions

MCI

Explore related trials

Alzheimer's DiseaseMild cognitive disorderAD biomarkers

Where it's being run

1 sites across 1 states
Maryland1

Study leadership

  • Kyrana Tsapkini, PhD · PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR · Johns Hopkins University

Who to contact

Kyrana Tsapkini, PhD
[email protected]
410-736-2940
Email the study team

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Eligibility criteria

Inclusion

Must be between 45-85 years of age.
Must be proficient in English.
Must have a minimum of high-school education.
Must be diagnosed with 'probable Alzheimer's Disease (AD)' in specialized diagnostic centers with neuropsychological (e.g., RAVLT) and AD biomarkers according to 2011 guidelines.
The investigators will also perform extensive testing in the investigators' test battery including the Mnemonic Similarity Test (MST) that discriminates and measures the most salient hippocampal deficit-pattern separation (PS).

Exclusion

People with previous neurological disease including vascular dementia (e.g., stroke, developmental dyslexia, dysgraphia or attentional deficit).
People with hearing loss (\> 25 decibel, using audiometric hearing screen).
People with uncorrected visual acuity loss.
People with advanced dementia or severe language impairments (MMSE \<15, or Montreal Cognitive Assessment \<10, or language Frontotemporal Dementia-specific Clinical Dementia Rating (FTD-CDR) =3).
People with pre-existing psychiatric disorders such as behavioral disturbances, severe depression, or schizophrenia that do not allow these people to comply or follow the study schedule and requirements such as repeated evaluation and therapy.

What this trial measures

  • Change in auditory recall accuracy based on the sum of words recalled in Trials 1-5 of semantically related - trained word-listsBefore intervention, immediately after intervention and 1 month post intervention

    Each trained word-list (practiced during the intervention period) will consist of 12 semantically related words (e.g., birds). Word lists will be constructed using psycholinguistic databases. There will be 5 Trials to learn each list. The investigators will compute the raw score of items correctly recalled by summing all scores from Trial 1 to Trial 5 and transforming to percent correct (range: 0-100%) at each time point of the study. Higher score is better. Increase in scores is considered a benefit.

  • Change in auditory delayed recall accuracy of semantically related - trained word-listsBefore intervention, immediately after intervention and 1 month post intervention

    Each trained word-list (practiced during the intervention period) will consist of 12 semantically related words (e.g., birds). Word lists will be constructed using psycholinguistic databases. There will be 5 Trials to recall each list, and then participants will be asked to recall that list 20 minutes later (delayed recall). The investigators will compute the raw score of items correctly recalled (delayed recall) and transform to percent correct (range: 0-100%) at each time point of the study. Increase in scores is considered a benefit.Higher score is better.

  • Change in auditory recall accuracy based on the sum of words recalled in Trials 1-5 of semantically unrelated - trained word-listsBefore intervention, immediately after intervention and 1 month post intervention

    Each trained word-list (practiced during the intervention period) will consist of 12 semantically unrelated words as in Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT). Word lists will be constructed using psycholinguistic databases. There will be 5 Trials to learn each list. The investigators will compute the raw score of items correctly recalled by summing all scores from Trial 1 to Trial 5 and transforming to percent correct (range: 0-100%) at each time point of the study. Increase in scores is considered a benefit. Higher score is better.

  • Change in auditory delayed recall accuracy of semantically unrelated - trained word-listsBefore intervention, immediately after intervention and 1 month post intervention

    Each trained word-list (practiced during the intervention period) will consist of 12 semantically unrelated words (as in RAVLT). Word lists will be constructed using psycholinguistic databases. There will be 5 Trials to recall each list, and then participants will be asked to recall that list 20 minutes later (delayed recall). The investigators will compute the raw score of items correctly recalled (delayed recall) and transform to percent correct (range: 0-100%) at each time point of the study. Increase in scores is considered a benefit. Higher score is better.

  • Change in auditory recall accuracy based the sum of words recalled in Trials 1-5 of semantically related - untrained word-listsBefore intervention, immediately after intervention and 1 month post intervention

    Each untrained word-list (not practiced during the intervention period) will consist of 12 semantically related words (e.g., birds). Word lists will be constructed using psycholinguistic databases. There will be 5 Trials to learn each list. The investigators will compute the raw score of items correctly recalled by summing all scores from Trial 1 to Trial 5 and transforming to percent correct (range: 0-100%) at each time point of the study. Increase in scores is considered a benefit. Higher score is better.

  • Change in auditory delayed recall accuracy of semantically related - untrained word-listsBefore intervention, immediately after intervention and 1 month post intervention

    Each untrained word-list (not practiced during the intervention period) will consist of 12 semantically related words (e.g., birds). Word lists will be constructed using psycholinguistic databases. There will be 5 Trials to recall each list, and then participants will be asked to recall that list 20 minutes later (delayed recall). The investigators will compute the raw score of items correctly recalled (delayed recall) and transform to percent correct (range: 0-100%) at each time point of the study. Increase in scores is considered a benefit. Higher score is better.

  • Change in auditory recall accuracy based on the sum of words recalled in Trials 1-5 of semantically unrelated - untrained word-listsBefore intervention, immediately after intervention and 1 month post intervention

    Each untrained word-list (not practiced during the intervention period) will consist of 12 semantically unrelated words (as in RAVLT). Word lists will be constructed using psycholinguistic databases. There will be 5 Trials to learn each list. The investigators will compute the raw score of items correctly recalled by summing all scores from Trial 1 to Trial 5 and transforming to percent correct (range: 0-100%) at each time point of the study. Increase in scores is considered a benefit. Higher score is better.

  • Change in auditory delayed recall accuracy of semantically unrelated - untrained word-listsBefore intervention, immediately after intervention and 1 month post intervention

    Each untrained word-list (not practiced during the intervention period) will consist of 12 semantically unrelated words (as in RAVLT). Word lists will be constructed using psycholinguistic databases. There will be 5 Trials to recall each list, and then participants will be asked to recall that list 20 minutes later (delayed recall). The investigators will compute the raw score of items correctly recalled (delayed recall) and transform to percent correct (range: 0-100%) at each time point of the study. Increase in scores is considered a benefit. Higher score is better.