NCT06843252 · RECRUITING

Home-based TDCS (Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation) for Cognitive and Behavioral Symptoms in Huntington's Disease

This trial tests whether a small home-use device that sends a gentle electrical current through the scalp, called tDCS, can ease behavioral symptoms in people with Huntington's disease. Participants use it for 30 minutes daily, compared against a fake (sham) version. It is not a drug phase trial, so there is no phase label, and nothing here is proven.

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion Criteria:
1. individuals aged 18-85 years with confirmed HD mutation and/or established family history alongside typical symptoms (i.e., chorea) of HD;
2. early (stages 1 and 2) or moderate (stage 3) stages according to Shoulson-Fahn criteria, also known as the UHDRS total functional capacity (TFC) scale (Bates, Tabrizi, and Jones 2014);
3. exhibit mild to moderate behavioral symptoms defined by severity scores in the PBA-S between 1 and 3 for any of the evaluated symptoms and no symptoms with a severity score of 4;
4. stable doses of medications for at least one month.
5. Ability of subject to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document.
6. Have a caregiver willing to be present during tDCS sessions and answer questionnaires.
Caregiver
1. An adult who serves as an unpaid caregiver for an individual enrolled in the study as interpreted by the PI or delegate physician.
2. Adequate cognitive capacity to provide verbal consent to participate in the caregiver arm of the study.
3. Adequate reading, writing, hearing, and verbal capacity to provide collateral information about the study participant as well as answer questions related to their health and care.
Exclusion Criteria:
1. Unstable medical conditions (e.g. unstable angina, uncontrolled diabetes and hypertension, advanced cancer, etc.);
2. History of epilepsy;
3. Clinical diagnosis of major cognitive disorder (i.e., dementia);
4. Have risk of suicidal behavior, defined as any suicidal behavior or suicidal ideation of type 4 (active suicidal ideation with some intent to act, without specific plan) or type 5 (active suicidal ideation with specific plan and intent) based on the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) in the 3 months prior to screening (Posner et al. 2011);
5. Being an active participant in other therapeutic clinical trial;
6. Determined to be incapable of consent per PMH or via assessment by the study staff at time of consent.
7. Participant has a pacemaker or any other implanted device/material contraindicated in the use of tDCS per current labeling requirements.
Caregiver
1. Any individual who does not meet all the inclusion criteria

The sponsor's own eligibility wording, lightly reformatted. The study team makes the final eligibility decision — worth discussing with your doctor.

Eligibility criteria as of 2026-02-11

View full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

All APOE4 clinical trials