Recruiting

Cerebellar tDCS

Sponsor:

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

Code:

NCT06286930

Conditions

Anorexia Nervosa

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: Female

Age: 15 - 30

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

anodal trans cranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)

cathodal trans cranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)

Study Details

Brief summary:

Hypothesis: Will the use of tDCS brain modulation in the cerebellum assist in restricted behaviors, social cognition and cognitive flexibility in women with anorexia nervosa in addition to other therapies?

Primary Outcomes:

1. To observe the impacts and outcomes of cerebellar transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on social behaviors measured by Cyberball and Trust Game.
2. To observe the neuropsychological impacts of cerebellar tDCS through fMRI imaging as well as looking at the Region of Interest (ROI) of changes in the Default Mode Network and Cerebellum circuits and their activation levels in those networks.

Secondary Outcomes:

1.To observe the impacts and outcome of cerebellar transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) measuring the differences between anodal and cathodal stimulation. To observe potential increases in responses to social stimuli, decreases in eating disorder/depressive symptomology via cathodal stimulation. To also observe potential little to no changes in social stimuli and eating disorder/depressive symptomology via anodal stimulation.

Conditions

Anorexia Nervosa

Study ID

NCT06286930

Start date

Apr 24, 2024

Status verified date

Feb, 2026

Completion date

Jan 2, 2027

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Jan 2, 2027

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: Female

Age: 15 - 30

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Diagnosis of Anorexia Nervosa (AN)
  • Female participants
  • Age 15-30 years old inclusive at time of enrollment
  • Ability of parent or legal guardian to provide informed consent if participant is under 18 years old.
  • Ability of patients ages 15-17 to give assent to the study.
  • Completion of the signed HIPAA authorization form by a parent or legal guardian or by participants (18 years of age).

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Pregnancy
  • Known history of traumatic brain injury that required medical care
  • Non-English speaking (based on standardized neuropsychological testing and questionnaires)
  • Claustrophobic
  • Brain Implants
  • Pacemakers
  • Hearing or visual impairment
  • Any biomedical or metal implants in any part of the body (excluding orthopedic implants)

Study Design

Enrollment

15 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Crossover

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: anodal tDCS, then cathodal tDCS

Participants receive 1, 20-minute anodal tDCS stimulation. After a washout period of 2-3 weeks, then receive 1, 20-minute cathodal tDCS stimulation.

experimental: cathodal tDCS, then andoal tDCS

Participants receive 1, 20-minute cathodal tDCS stimulation. After a washout period of 2-3 weeks, then receive 1, 20-minute anodal tDCS stimulation.

Interventions

anodal trans cranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)

1 20-minute anodal tDCS stimulation

cathodal trans cranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)

1 20-minute cathodal tDCS stimulation

Primary outcome measure

  • tDCS impact on social behaviors using Cyberball [ Time Frame: 1 year ]
  • tDCS impact on social behaviors using the Trust Game [ Time Frame: 1 year ]
  • neurological impacts of tDCS as measured by fMRI imaging [ Time Frame: 1 year ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Haley Walker

214-648-4617haley.walker@utsouthwestern.edu

Ava Ryan

214-648-4617Ava.ryan@utsouthwestern.edu

Locations

UT Southwestern Multispecialty Psychiatry Clinic

Recruiting

Dallas, Texas, United States, 75247

Contacts

Haley A Walker, Masters

214-648-4145haley.walker@utsouthwestern.edu

Ava Ryan, Bachelors

214-648-4145ava.ryan@utsouthwestern.edu

Principal Investigator:

Carrie McAdams, MD/PhD

More Information

Sponsor

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

Last update posted

Feb 5, 2026

Last verified

Feb, 2026

Keywords

  • transcranial direct current stimulation
  • Adolescents
  • Adults
  • tDCS

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center on 2026-02-05.