Print

Purpose

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if non-invasive brain stimulation (called transcranial stimulation) can enhance the benefits from auditory training in people who struggle to understand one talker when many people are talking at the same time. The main questions it aims to answer are: - Does transcranial stimulation improve speech-on-speech understanding in people who struggle with this task? - Does transcranial stimulation enhance the benefits of a commercially available auditory training program? Researchers will compare transcranial stimulation to sham stimulation (no stimulation is applied during the listening task). Participants will: - Receive login information to an online auditory training program to complete at home over 2 weeks - Visit the laboratory 4 times to receive transcranial stimulation while listening to speech-on-speech: once before at-home training, two times during the at-home training period, and once after at-home training has ended

Condition

Eligibility

Eligible Ages
Over 50 Years
Eligible Sex
All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
No

Inclusion Criteria

  • 50 years of age or older - Audiometric thresholds that do not exceed 90 dB HL at any frequency from 250-6000 Hz - Able to provide informed consent and understand experimental instructions - Able to read print on a computer screen - Difficulty with speech-on-speech understanding - Access to computer or mobile phone with access to internet that can play sound (for the at-home training)

Exclusion Criteria

  • Non-native speakers of English - History of skull fracture, scalp tissue damage, metallic implants around the head, seizures, neurological disorders, or traumatic brain injury, current or suspected pregnancy

Study Design

Phase
N/A
Study Type
Interventional
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention Model
Parallel Assignment
Intervention Model Description
Participants are randomly assigned to active transcranial stimulation or sham stimulation groups.
Primary Purpose
Treatment
Masking
Double (Participant, Investigator)

Arm Groups

ArmDescriptionAssigned Intervention
Experimental
Active transcranial stimulation 		This group will receive active transcranial alternating current stimulation that matches the envelope of the target speech.
  • Device: Transcranial current stimulation
    The transcranial alternating current stimulation is delivered during the speech stimulus and the current matches the envelope of the target speech
  • Behavioral: Auditory training
    An at-home auditory training program that adaptively and interactively trains the listener in degraded speech, cognitive skills, and communication strategies
Sham Comparator
Sham stimulation 		This group will receive transcranial stimulation that ramps on and off before the speech is presented.
  • Behavioral: Auditory training
    An at-home auditory training program that adaptively and interactively trains the listener in degraded speech, cognitive skills, and communication strategies

Recruiting Locations

Communication Neuroscience Research Lab at Boston University
Boston, Massachusetts 02215
Contact:
Tyler Perrachione, PhD
617-358-7410
tkp@bu.edu

More Details

Status
Recruiting
Sponsor
Boston University Charles River Campus

Study Contact

Elin Roverud, AuD, PhD
617-358-7440
erover@bu.edu

Notice

Study information shown on this site is derived from ClinicalTrials.gov (a public registry operated by the National Institutes of Health). The listing of studies provided is not certain to be all studies for which you might be eligible. Furthermore, study eligibility requirements can be difficult to understand and may change over time, so it is wise to speak with your medical care provider and individual research study teams when making decisions related to participation.