Actively Recruiting
Noninvasive Brain Stimulation to Enhance Reading Comprehension Ability in Adults
Led by Vanderbilt University · Updated on 2025-08-01
100
Participants Needed
1
Research Sites
200 weeks
Total Duration
On this page
Sponsors
V
Vanderbilt University
Lead Sponsor
N
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Collaborating Sponsor
AI-Summary
What this Trial Is About
The goal of this project is to address the urgent need for effective, scalable adult literacy interventions by integrating breakthroughs in two separate fields: 1.) the brain network science of resilience to reading disorders and 2.) high-definition non-invasive brain network stimulation. This study will first establish the efficacy of a novel, noninvasive stimulation protocol on reading behavior and brain metrics; then will determine how stimulation-induced effects interact with baseline reading comprehension ability; and lastly, will identify whether stimulation-induced effects are more clinically-beneficial than canonical behavioral interventions. Results may change the foundation for how we treat low adult literacy, and have the potential for wider reaching impacts on non-invasive stimulation protocols for other clinical disorders.
CONDITIONS
Official Title
Noninvasive Brain Stimulation to Enhance Reading Comprehension Ability in Adults
Who Can Participate
Eligibility Criteria
You may qualify if you...
- Right-handed, native English monolingual speakers
- Age between 18 and 40 years
- Typical word reading ability at or above the 15th percentile
- Reading comprehension ability either above 25th percentile (good) or at or below 25th percentile (poor)
You will not qualify if you...
- Personal medical history of stroke or seizures
- Use of medications specifically prescribed for stroke or seizures treatment
- Previous diagnosis of intellectual disability
- Uncorrectable visual impairment
- Hearing impairment of 25 dB or greater
- Medical contraindications to MRI
- Known IQ below 70
- Pervasive developmental disorders
- Neurologic pathologies including epilepsy, spina bifida, cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury, brain tumors
- Recent diagnosis of migraines
- Pregnancy
- History of syncope
- Severe fatigue
- Bilingualism or low English proficiency
- Poor reading ability preventing task completion
- Severe psychiatric disorders
- Hair styles preventing proper EEG net fitting or posing risk to EEG net
AI-Screening
AI-Powered Screening
Complete this quick 3-step screening to check your eligibility
Trial Site Locations
Total: 1 location
1
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Nashville, Tennessee, United States, 37203
Actively Recruiting
Research Team
T
Tess Fotidzis, PhD
CONTACT
How is the study designed?
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Masking
DOUBLE
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Model
PARALLEL
Primary Purpose
TREATMENT
Number of Arms
3
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