Longitudinal Study Examining At-Home tDCS

Participants with dementia have reported improvements after receiving tDCS in a study at our lab. Although we make an effort to enroll such participants in further tDCS research studies, some participants are ineligible for further studies or simply unwilling to continue being a research participant. These same individuals, however, are interested in purchasing their own tDCS machine and have approached us for advice on how to purchase their own machine. Because these devices are commercially available, there is nothing theoretically stopping these participants from purchasing their own machine. Therefore, we have chosen to carry out a longitudinal study that will allow us to serve as an advisory role for participants who have decided to continue administering tDCS at home. We will recommend the tDCS related items that should be purchased, and train participants on how to properly administer tDCS. Monthly reports will also be collected, which will allow us to monitor the person's condition. We plan to monitor participants for at least two years. From these reports, we will be able determine to what extent tDCS is beneficial when done at home as a treatment for dementia symptoms.