{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,8]],"date-time":"2026-10-08T21:06:16Z","timestamp":1791493576576,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,23]],"date-time":"2026-02-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1771804800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Neurol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Prefrontal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a low-risk candidate intervention for cognitive enhancement in Alzheimer's disease (AD), but trial results are heterogeneous and often short-term. We evaluated the 26-week efficacy, safety, and family-level impact of home-based prefrontal tDCS in mild AD.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      In this randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled trial, 120 patients with mild AD were allocated to active (\n                      <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\n                      = 59) or sham (\n                      <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\n                      = 61) tDCS. The intention-to-treat (ITT) population included 106 participants (53 vs. 53) with post-baseline data; 66 (32 vs. 34) comprised the per-protocol (PP) set. The primary outcome was change in global cognition on the Korean Mini-Mental State Examination (K-MMSE). Secondary and exploratory outcomes included domain-specific cognition [e.g., Korean Boston Naming Test (K-BNT)], neuropsychiatric symptoms [Korean Neuropsychiatric Inventory (K-NPI)], patient quality of life (QoL-AD), and caregiver-reported family quality of life [Family Quality of Life\u2013Dementia (FQoL-D)]. Adverse events (AEs) were systematically monitored.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      K-MMSE declined slightly in both groups over 26 weeks (active \u0394 \u22120.53, sham \u0394 \u22120.15), with no significant between-group difference (\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      = 0.402). Most cognitive domains showed small, non-significant changes. In contrast, confrontation naming on the K-BNT favored active tDCS: in ITT analyses, naming performance was stable with active stimulation (\u0394 +0.51) but worsened with sham (\u0394 \u22122.32;\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      = 0.022), with a similar pattern in the PP set. K-NPI findings were inconsistent across analytic sets. Notably, FQoL-D declined in the active arm but improved in the sham arm in both ITT (\u0394 \u22122.19 vs. +1.94;\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      = 0.043) and PP analyses. Overall AE rates were similar; stimulation-site reactions were common but mild, and serious AEs were rare and deemed unrelated to tDCS.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>In mild AD, 26 weeks of home-based prefrontal tDCS did not improve global cognition vs. sham, although a modest benefit in confrontation naming was observed. The deterioration in caregiver-reported family quality of life highlights the need to weigh potential cognitive gains against family burden in long-term home-based neuromodulation.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Clinical trial registration<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Clinical Research Information Service (CRIS), KCT0005834.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fneur.2026.1749559","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,23]],"date-time":"2026-02-23T05:27:37Z","timestamp":1771824457000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Six-month randomized, double-blind trial of transcranial direct current stimulation in mild Alzheimer's dementia: domain-specific cognitive and neuropsychiatric 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