Safety and Efficacy of Cerebellar tDCS in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Study ID: STU 122017-070
Summary
The study will involve participants undergoing behavioral measurements. They will then be split into either a sham treatment group or an active treatment group, both of which will be over the right crus i/ii area of the cerebellum. Both treatment groups will be assessed for possible adverse effects using close vitals monitoring and questionnaires during and after treatment. a brief battery of motor and behavioral testing will follow treatment. The participants will then follow up in 1 month in order to measure behavioral outcomes, which will be the endpoint of the study. The study risks are reasonable in relation to the potential benefits of the study as the intervention we plan to use has been demonstrated to have negligible side effects in all groups (including pediatric populations), and the potential to improve a patient's quality of life with a non-invasive technique could provide profound benefits for individuals with aSD and their families.
Participant Eligibility
Ages 4 to 21, male and female, with known autism spectrum disorder as diagnosed by a clinician, currently not on medications
(1) to demonstrate the safety of cerebellar tDCS in children and (2) to use accepted autism behavioral outcome measures to determine potential impacts of cerebellar tDCS on aSD symptomatology. Because of previous demonstration of minimal safety side effects with tDCS, we hypothesize that one-time administration of cerebellar tDCS will be accompanied by minimal adverse effects.