Targeting Repetitive Behaviors in Autism Spectrum Disorder Via Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation

Repetitive behaviors (RBs) are a prevalent feature of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). There are two groups of RBs: lower-order (e.g. motor stereotypies) and higher-order RBs (e.g. restricted interests), linked to sensory-motor and the associative loops, respectively. To date, treatment options for RBs are very limited. High-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS) may be effective in reducing the impact of RBs in children with ASD by targeting the associated brain alterations. Moreover, the high focality of HD-tDCS will help the investigators to disentangle the relative contribution of different brain loops (namely, sensory-motor and the associative loops) into RBs subtypes. The investigators will also study the electrophysiological patterns associated to behavioral changes after the application of HD-tDCS.

NCT Number	NCT06645587
Lead Sponsor	Bambino Gesù Hospital and Research Institute Collaborators: Ministero della Salute, Italy
Conditions	Autism Spectrum Disorder
Enrollment	78 participants
Start Date	2024-10-03
Primary Completion	2026-01 (estimated)
Study Completion	2026-04 (estimated)
Updated on ClinicalTrials.gov	2024-10-17