---
title: "Home-based Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Open Trial for Behavioral and Cognitive Symptoms in Huntington's Disease"
nct_id: NCT05326451
overall_status: RECRUITING
phase: NA
sponsor: The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston
study_type: INTERVENTIONAL
primary_condition: Huntington Disease
countries: United States
canonical_url: "https://parkinsonspathways.com/agent/trials/NCT05326451.md"
clinicaltrials_gov: "https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05326451"
ct_last_update_post_date: 2026-02-11
last_seen_at: "2026-05-12T07:09:06.885Z"
source: ClinicalTrials.gov (mirrored, no enrichment)
---
# Home-based Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Open Trial for Behavioral and Cognitive Symptoms in Huntington's Disease

**NCT ID:** [NCT05326451](https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05326451)

## Key Facts

- **Status:** RECRUITING
- **Phase:** NA
- **Study Type:** INTERVENTIONAL
- **Target Enrollment:** 10
- **Lead Sponsor:** The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston
- **Conditions:** Huntington Disease
- **Start Date:** 2023-06-21
- **Completion Date:** 2026-12-31
- **CT.gov Last Update:** 2026-02-11

## Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to assess feasibility, acceptability, and safety of providing transcranial direct current stimulation( tDCS) to Huntingtons Disease (HD) patients in the early to middle stages and to assess the efficacy of tDCS for HD-related behavioral, cognitive and other symptoms

## Eligibility

- **Minimum age:** 18 Years
- **Maximum age:** 80 Years
- **Sex:** ALL
- **Healthy Volunteers:** No

```
Participant:

Inclusion Criteria:

* confirmed HD mutation carriers 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
* 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
* Have a caregiver willing to be present during tDCS sessions and answer questionnaires.

Exclusion Criteria:

* unstable medical conditions
* history of epilepsy
* metallic objects in the brain
* Have a caregiver willing to be present during tDCS sessions and answer questionnaires.
* clinical diagnosis of major cognitive disorder or dementia
* Have risk of suicidal behavior, defined as any suicidal behavior or suicidal ideation of type 4 or type 5 based on the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) in the 3 months prior to screening
* simultaneous participation in other clinical trial
* Individuals determined to be incapable of consent per past medical history or via assessment by the study staff at time of consent.

Caregiver:

Inclusion Criteria:

-willingness to participate in the study

Exclusion Criteria:

-motor/cognitive symptoms related to Alzheimer's disease or Huntington's disease that might impair the ability to assist the participant during the research study.
```

## Arms

- **active tDCS** (EXPERIMENTAL)

## Interventions

- **active tDCS** (DEVICE) — Participants will receive active tDCS with a constant current intensity of 2mA. Anodal tDCS will be applied to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, while cathodal electrode will be positioned on the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Caregivers will help setting up and administering tDCS for participants with HD at home. tDCS will be applied for 30min at an intensity of 2mA, with 30 s ramping up and down. Sessions will be remotely supervised by trained research staff (RA), and will run from Monday through Friday for four consecutive weeks.

## Primary Outcomes

- **Feasibility as assessed by the number of participants included and who successfully completed the protocol** _(time frame: through study completion, an average of 8 weeks)_
- **Change in acceptability of the treatment as assessed by the tDCS acceptability questionnaire** _(time frame: Baseline, week 2, week 4, week 8)_ — Acceptability will be evaluated using a Likert scale (from 0 \[strongly disagree\] to 10 \[strongly agree\]) to answer ten affirmatives regarding the use of home based tDCS, with a total score range of 0-10 and a higher score indicating higher acceptability.
- **Change in safety of home-based tDCS treatment as as assessed by the tDCS side effect questionnaire** _(time frame: week 2, week 4)_ — Safety will be assessed with a 10-item questionnaire about side effects, including itching, burning, headache, fatigue, and dizziness. Each question is scored form 0-10, with a total score range of 0-10 and a higher score indicating more side effects.

## Secondary Outcomes

- **Change in Motor function as assessed by the Unified Huntington Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS)** _(time frame: Baseline,week4)_
- **Change in Cognitive function as assessed by the Unified Huntington Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS)** _(time frame: Baseline,week4)_
- **Change in Behavior as assessed by the Unified Huntington Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS)** _(time frame: Baseline,week4)_
- **Change in apathy as assessed by the Brief Dimensional Apathy Scale (bDAS)** _(time frame: Baseline, week 2, week 4, week 8)_
- **Change in depression as assessed by the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9)** _(time frame: Baseline, week 2, week 4, week 8)_
- **Change in irritability as assessed by the Irritability Questionnaire** _(time frame: Baseline, week 2, week 4, week 8)_
- **Change in cognition as assessed by the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)** _(time frame: Baseline, week 2, week 4, week 8)_
- **Change in anxiety and depressive symptoms as assessed by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)** _(time frame: Baseline, week 2, week 4, week 8)_
- **Change in behavioral symptoms as assessed by the Problem Behaviours Assessment (PBA-s)** _(time frame: Baseline, 2 weeks of treatment, at the end of treatment (week 4) and 4 weeks post-treatment.)_

## Locations (1)

- The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, United States — _RECRUITING_

## Recent Field Changes (last 30 days)

- `status.overallStatus` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `status.primaryCompletionDate` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `status.completionDate` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `status.lastUpdatePostDate` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `design.phases` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `design.enrollmentCount` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `eligibility.criteria` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `eligibility.minAge` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `eligibility.maxAge` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `eligibility.sex` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `outcomes.primary` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `outcomes.secondary` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `armsInterventions.arms` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `armsInterventions.interventions` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `sponsor.lead` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `results.hasResults` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `locations.the university of texas health science center at houston|houston|texas|united states` — added _(2026-05-12)_

---

*Canonical: https://parkinsonspathways.com/agent/trials/NCT05326451.md*  
*Source data (authoritative): https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05326451*  
*This page is a raw mirror with no AI summary, no editorial enrichment, and no Parkinson's-specific filtering.*