What this means
This trial plans to use gentle brain stimulation and brain scans to study vision changes with age. It has not reported results, so it does not yet show whether the approach works.
Plain-English summary written by an AI model from the registry listing.
- Status
- Recruiting
- Who can join
- Ages 18 and over · Planned: two studies of 120 older adults each
- Where
- 1 site, including Massachusetts
The science
- Registered title
- Restructuring the Alpha-Gamma Code in Aging Vision
- Trial ID
- NCT07208318 ↗
- Phase
- EARLY PHASE 1
- Study type
- interventional
- Conditions
- Aging, Visual Perception, Noninvasive Brain Stimulation
- What is tested
- High definition transcranial electrical current stimulation
- Sponsor
- Boston University Charles River Campus
- Ages
- 18 Years to no maximum
- Dates
- First posted Oct 6, 2025 · updated Jul 16, 2026
Registry summary
Tests whether age-related visual deficits arise from disrupted alpha-gamma coupling in visual cortex (V1) and MT. Uses fMRI, source-resolved HD-EEG, and personalized complex-waveform HD-tACS to (1) quantify aging effects on phase-amplitude coupling, (2) drive PAC into a preferred "gamma-at-alpha-troughs" state, and (3) bidirectionally change perception by aligning gamma to alpha troughs vs peaks. Two five-day, double-blind, sham-controlled studies (n=120 each) target contrast sensitivity (V1) and 3D shape-from-motion (MT), aiming for mechanistic insight and remediation in older adults with implications for ADRD.
Sites (1)
- 111 Cummington Mall, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States