The researchers hope to find out effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) sessions on the behavioral symptoms of Huntington's Disease. If participants are eligible to continue, they will be provided a device to administer the tDCS for 30 minutes each day and be asked to answer questions with the study staff . Participants will be asked to return to the study center for follow ups and to undergo additional cognitive tests and questionnaires. Participants will also be asked to answer questionnaires via a web conferencing platform (Zoom) during the course of the study. Caregivers of the participants will be asked to answer questionnaires to collect more information about the participants.
individuals aged 18-85 years with confirmed HD mutation and/or established family history alongside typical symptoms (i.e., chorea) of HD;
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);
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;
stable doses of medications for at least one month.
Unstable medical conditions (e.g. unstable angina, uncontrolled diabetes and hypertension, advanced cancer, etc.);
History of epilepsy;
Clinical diagnosis of major cognitive disorder (i.e., dementia);
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);
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
Lead sponsor
Huntington's Disease Society of America
Collaborator