NCT05035511

A Machine Learning Approach for Predicting tDCS Treatment Outcomes of Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Recruiting now NA Last updated 6 February 2026

What this trial tests

NA trial testing tDCS in Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in 90 participants. Currently enrolling.

Timeline

5 January 2022

Primary endpoint
30 June 2026

30 June 2026

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Phase	NA
Status	Recruiting now
Study type	INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation	na
Design	single group
Masking	none
Primary purpose	treatment
Enrollment	90
Start date	5 January 2022
Primary completion	30 June 2026
Estimated completion	30 June 2026
Sites	1 location across Hong Kong

Drugs / interventions tested

• tDCS — full drug profile →

Conditions studied

• Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation — all drugs for Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation →
• Autistic Disorders Spectrum — all drugs for Autistic Disorders Spectrum →
• Electroencephalography — all drugs for Electroencephalography →
• Machine Learning — all drugs for Machine Learning →

Sponsor

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Who can join

Adults 12 to 22, any sex, with Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation or Autistic Disorders Spectrum. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by disturbances in communication, poor social skills, and aberrant behaviors. Particularly detrimental are the presence of restricted and repetitive stereotyped behaviors and uncontrollable temper outbursts over trivial changes in the environment, which often cause emotional stress for the children, their families, schools and neighborhood communities.

Fundamental to these cognitive and behavioral problems is the disordered cortical connectivity and resultant executive dysfunction that underpin the use of effective strategies to integrate information across contexts. Brain connectivity problems affect the rate at which information travels across the brain. Slow processing speed relates to a reduced capacity of executive function to recall and formulate thoughts and actions automatically, with the result that autistic children with poor processing speed have great difficulty learning or perceiving relationships across multiple experiences. In consequence, these children compensate for the impaired ability to integrate information from the environment by memorizing visual details or individual rules from each situation. This explains why children with autism tend to follow routines in precise detail and show great distress over seemingly trivial changes in the environment.

To date, there is no known cure for ASD, and the disorder remains a highly disabling condition. Recently, a non-invasive brain stimulation technique, transcranial direct current Stimulation (tDCS) has shown great promise as a potentially effective and costeffective tool for reducing core symptoms such as anxiety, aggression, impulsivity, and inattention in patients with autism. This technique has been shown to modify behavior by inducing changes in cortical excitability and enhancing connectivity between the targeted brain areas. However, not all ASD patients respond to this intervention the same way and predicting the behavioral impact of tDCS in patients with ASD remains a clinical challenge. This proposed study thus aims to address these challenges by determining whether resting-state EEG and clinical data at baseline can be used to differentiate responders from non-responders to tDCS treatment. Findings from the study will provide new guidance for designing intervention programs for individuals with ASD.

Publications & conference data

3 peer-reviewed publications reference this trial (live from Europe PMC):

1. Recent advancements in noninvasive brain modulation for individuals with autism spectrum disorder.
   Griff JR, Langlie J, Bencie NB, Cromar ZJ, et al · · 2023 · cited 13× · PMID 36453393 · DOI 10.4103/1673-5374.360163
2. Effects of transcranial direct current stimulation in children and young people with psychiatric disorders: a systematic review.
   Gallop L, Westwood SJ, Lewis Y, Campbell IC, et al · · 2024 · cited 9× · PMID 36764973 · DOI 10.1007/s00787-023-02157-0
3. Baseline symptom severity and response to multisession cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation in adolescents and young adults with autism: an exploratory analysis.
   Chan MMY, Wong KL, Shea CKS, Saxena D, et al · · 2026 · PMID 41921246 · DOI 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2026.03.043