Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Enhancing Cognitive Function in Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder - A Pilot fMRI Study
NCT07931781, Not applicable, Recruiting, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Trial 10
As registered on ClinicalTrials.gov, in the graph's capture of the registry.
| Field | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Title | Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Enhancing Cognitive Function in Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder - A Pilot fMRI Study | ClinicalTrials.gov |
| NCT number | NCT07931781 | ClinicalTrials.gov |
| Status | Recruiting | ClinicalTrials.gov |
| Phases | Not applicable | ClinicalTrials.gov |
| Enrollment | 40 participants, estimated | ClinicalTrials.gov |
| Lead sponsor | The Hong Kong Polytechnic University | ClinicalTrials.gov |
| Conditions | Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation, Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging | ClinicalTrials.gov |
| Interventions | Active-tDCS with computerized cognitive training, Sham-tDCS with computerized cognitive training | ClinicalTrials.gov |
| First posted | 2026-11-12 | ClinicalTrials.gov |
| Last updated | 2026-11-12 | ClinicalTrials.gov |
Registered outcomes 11
Each outcome the trial registered, primary first, in ClinicalTrials.gov's words.
| List | Outcome | Time frame | Description | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary | Change in Executive Functioning - Executive Composite Score | First day of intervention, and 1 day after the last day of intervention. (2 time points, up to 2 weeks) | Derived by summing the scores from the test battery of executive functions. To reduce the number of statistical comparisons, one Executive Composite score will be computed from the different executive function measures. This will be done by converting the raw scores on the different executive function measures to Z scores. The Z scores from the different executive function measures will then be averaged to yield the Executive Composite score. Lower scores indicate poorer executive functioning. | ClinicalTrials.gov |
| Secondary | Change in subdomains of executive function - CANTAB® cognitive test: Reaction Time (RTI) | First day of intervention, and 1 day after the last day of intervention. (2 time points, up to 2 weeks) | RTI assesses motor and mental response speeds, reaction time, response accuracy and impulsivity. It consists of 30 trials with five potential targets and requires participants to make flexible responses as fast as possible to the target stimulus (shown in yellow). Specifically, movement and reaction time will be measured, where shorter duration reflects faster processing | ClinicalTrials.gov |
| Secondary | Change in subdomains of executive function - CANTAB® cognitive test: Spatial Working Memory (SWM) | First day of intervention, and 1 day after the last day of intervention. (2 time points, up to 2 weeks) | SWM assess the memory ability of visuospatial information. Participants are required to search the tokens from a number of boxes but not pressing the boxes which tokens have been found. Errors (lower scores indicate lower repetition on pressing the same boxes that token has been found) and strategy (lower scores suggest higher strategy use in begin of choosing the same boxes) will be measured. | ClinicalTrials.gov |
| Secondary | Change in CANTAB® cognitive test - Multitasking Test (MTT) | First day of intervention, and 1 day after the last day of intervention. (2 time points, up to 2 weeks) | MTT assesses the ability to resolve the interference of task-irrelevant information (stroop-like effect). The test displays an arrow which can appear on either the left or right side of the screen and can point to either the left or right side. In each trial, participants are presented with a cue that indicates which button to press according to two different rules. And the rules that participants have to follow may change from trial to trial in a randomized order. Participant's response latencies and error scores will be measured. | ClinicalTrials.gov |
| Secondary | Change in CANTAB® cognitive test - Emotion Recognition Task (ERT) | First day of intervention, and 1 day after the last day of intervention. (2 time points, up to 2 weeks) | ERT assesses the ability to identify six basic emotions in facial expressions along a continuum of expression magnitude. Participants must select which emotion the facial image displayed 0.2s ago. Response latencies and accuracy will be measured. | ClinicalTrials.gov |
| Secondary | Change in subdomains of executive function - Verbal Fluency Test (VFT) | First day of intervention, and 1 day after the last day of intervention. (2 time points, up to 2 weeks) | The VFT assesses an individual's ability of working memory retrieval and executive control by instructing the individual to generate words for given semantic categories within a limited time. Participants will be given one minute for each category, which will be counterbalanced across participants to avoid order effects. The number of unique and correct words generated will be counted for each of the participants. | ClinicalTrials.gov |
| Secondary | Change in subdomains of executive function - Five-Point Test (FPT) | First day of intervention, and 1 day after the last day of intervention. (2 time points, up to 2 weeks) | The FPT assess an individual's design fluency and mental flexibility through instructing the individual to create unique, geometric patterns. Participants will be given a sheet of paper containing an array of 40 identical boxes. Each box contains 5 dots, arranged in the same pattern as '5' on a standard die. Participants have to connect 2 or more of the 5 dots using straight lines to create as many unique designs as possible within 5 minutes. The number of unique and correct patterns generated will be counted for each of the participants at 3 minutes and 5 minutes. | ClinicalTrials.gov |
| Secondary | Change in subdomains of executive function - Color Trails Test (CTT) | First day of intervention, and 1 day after the last day of intervention. (2 time points, up to 2 weeks) | CTT is a test that measures attention, processing speed, and flexibility. In Part 1, participants will connect numbered circles in sequential order as fast as possible. In Part 2, participants will also numbers in order, but must also alternate between circles of two different colors (pink and yellow). The execution time will be measured. | ClinicalTrials.gov |
| Secondary | Changes in subdomains of executive function - d2 Test of Attention | First day of intervention, and 1 day after the last day of intervention. (2 time points, up to 2 weeks) | The d2 Test of Attention measures selective and sustained attention, as well as visual information processing. Participants will be given 14 rows with 40 characters each, of which they must scan each row and cross out every target item (the letter 'd' with 2 dashes either above, below, or one in each position). Therefore, participants much ignore distractors along each row (i.e. the letter 'p' with any number of dashes, or 'd' with the wrong number of dashes). The number of errors will be counted for each participant. | ClinicalTrials.gov |
| Secondary | Change in social responsiveness - Social Responsiveness Scale-2nd edition (SRS-2) | First day of intervention, and 1 day after the last day of intervention (2 time points, up to 2 weeks) | SRS-2 is a sensitive measure of social functioning in individuals that detects even subtle symptoms that are highly related to ASD. It uses a four-point scale and focuses on different aspects of socialization. The total score reflects the clinical effectiveness of tDCS, and higher scores indicate greater symptom severity. It has been shown that SRS-2 is sensitive to detect changes in social communication improvement related to improved cognitive functioning after treatment. | ClinicalTrials.gov |
| Other | Exploratory mediator - Excitability-Inhibitory (E/I) ratio | First day of intervention, and 1 day after the last day of intervention. (2 time points, up to 2 weeks) | The study proposed will examine the biological mediator variable, E/I ratio, to explain the effects of tDCS. MRI data will be collected in the resting-state before and immediately after the 10-session intervention program. Further network analysis will be performed to characterize broader shifts in functional brain connectivity. | ClinicalTrials.gov |
Outcomes 0
Each outcome the trial posted results for, in ClinicalTrials.gov's words.
| Type | Outcome | Time frame | Population | Units | Measured as | Source |
|---|
Results by group 0
Each measurement the trial posted, group by group, in the words and numbers it posted.
| Outcome | Group | Category | Value | Spread | Units | Source |
|---|
Participant flow 0
How many started, completed or left each group, period by period.
| Period | Milestone | Group | Participants | Units counted | Source |
|---|
Adverse events 0
Each adverse event the trial posted, group by group: the participants affected out of those at risk.
| Type | Event | Organ system | Group | Affected | At risk | Events | Source |
|---|
Adverse event totals 0
The totals the trial posted for each group.
| Total | Group | Affected | At risk | Source |
|---|
Papers 0
The papers the trial lists on ClinicalTrials.gov.
| PMID | Listed as | Source |
|---|
Grants 0
The grants NIH RePORTER links to the trial, newest funded first: NIH's, and some of AHRQ's, CDC's, FDA's and VA's. Each shows its title, principal investigators, organization and funder in its newest year.
| Project | Title | Principal investigators | Organization | Funder | Fiscal years | Source |
|---|
Trial comparisons 0
Comparisons of the trial's two groups, calculated by ConductScience from the counts it posted.
| Comparison | Source |
|---|
Tests 4
The ConductCognition tests this trial's registered outcomes name, as ScienceGraph matched them in trial-tests-2026-11-12-0.2.1.
| Test | Named as | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Cancellation Test | Secondary outcome | ConductCognition |
| Design Fluency Test | Secondary outcome | ConductCognition |
| Emoji Emotion Recognition | Secondary outcome | ConductCognition |
| Verbal Fluency | Secondary outcome | ConductCognition |
Source 5
| Field | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Release | trials-2026-11-12-0.4.0 | ClinicalTrials.gov |
| Release manifest SHA-256 | 0f4a8d8c48aee2a7573ae0fa94ecbeab70c1adbe449bbc95c424bc7d3e97b9d4 | ClinicalTrials.gov |
| Registry capture | 2026-11-12 | ClinicalTrials.gov |
| Results copy, AACT | 2026-03-23 | ClinicalTrials.gov |
| NIH clinical studies file | 2026-11-13 | ClinicalTrials.gov |
Release trials-2026-11-12-0.4.0
ClinicalTrials.gov's posted results, through CTTI's AACT: ClinicalTrials.gov data via Aggregate Analysis of ClinicalTrials.gov (AACT), CTTI. CTTI makes its materials freely available and requests acknowledgement. https://aact.ctti-clinicaltrials.org/documentation/299 ClinicalTrials.gov's data carry an international copyright outside the United States: https://clinicaltrials.gov/about-site/terms-conditions.
ClinicalTrials.gov: none stated ClinicalTrials.gov's data carry an international copyright outside the United States: https://clinicaltrials.gov/about-site/terms-conditions.
NIH RePORTER's clinical studies and project files: Public domain (NIH RePORTER)