Skip to content
Bored Studies
RecruitingAccepts healthy volunteers

Improving Speech in Noise Using Noninvasive Stimulation

University of Florida · with Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs · NCT07176936

View Study & Apply (opens in a new tab)

Opens the official ClinicalTrials.gov record, with the study team’s contacts. Bored Studies doesn’t enroll anyone.

Key facts

Compensation
Not posted. Ask the study team before screening.
Who can join
Ages 25–55 · All sexes
Healthy volunteers
Accepted
Study type
Interventional · Not applicable
Target enrollment
55
US sites recruiting
1
Study start
March 21, 2026
Record last updated
March 27, 2026

Status re-checked against ClinicalTrials.gov within the last 12 hours.

What the study is about

Traumatic brain injury, a common injury in military service personnel, often leads to poor processing of speech in noisy environments. The goal of the current study is to better understand the brain basis for this difficulty and evaluate a new approach to improving speech in noise perception.

Being studied: Cymba Conchae stimulation; Earlobe stimulation

Conditions: Traumatic Brain Injury; Hearing Loss

Eligibility criteria

Copied from the official record. The study team makes the final decision at screening.

Show full criteria

Inclusion Criteria

  • 25-55 years old
  • Proficiency in English
  • TBI group: history of traumatic brain injury by blast or physical trauma
  • Normal hearing group: no history of traumatic brain injury

Exclusion Criteria

  • Other neurological diseases or related conditions will be excluded (e.g., large vessel stroke, seizures). We will exclude patients with severe medical diseases that may be associated with impaired cognition (e.g., heart failure, dialysis dependent kidney disease, brain cancer). Further, psychiatric diseases that are unlikely to be related to trauma will be excluded (e.g., schizophrenia).

Patients with histories of severe psychiatric disease prior to trauma exposure will be excluded.

  • Current illicit or prescription drug abuse (within the last two months)
  • Any taVNS contraindication, including but not limited to the presence of unremovable metal in the left ear, known heart conditions, medications that influence neurotransmitters thought to be critical for vagus nerve stimulation (norepinephrine, acetylcholine, and serotonin), or implanted medical devices such as a pacemaker.

Recruiting US locations

  • UF Health at the University of Florida

    Gainesville, FL 32610

    Site contact: Tracy Centanni, Ph.D. · 352-294-8675 · tracy.centanni@phhp.ufl.edu

All neurology studies in Florida →
Improving Speech in Noise Using Noninvasive Stimulation (NCT07176936) | Bored Studies