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Effects of rTMS on Impulsivity and Empathy

NCT03200873 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 33

Last updated 2018-05-02

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Impulsivity describes the tendency to make risky and unplanned decisions, to pick immediate reward over a bigger reward after a period of time or to not be able to resist the urge to do something. Empathy refers to the ability to be sensitive to and vicariously experience other people's feelings and to create working models of emotional states. Recent neuroscientific research have found that the right frontal part of the brain (left dorsal lateral frontal cortex, LDLPFC) is important in the control of impulsive behaviour and empathy. Self-report questionnaires have been proven valid measures at assessing impulsivity and empathy. Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) is a widely used non-invasive brain stimulation procedure; stimulation can be applied at different brain regions depending on the administration method. It temporally changes the way that this part of the brain functions, providing us a further understanding of how this part works. Recent research has found that rTMS on the LDLPFC changes performance-based tasks measuring different types of impulsivity and empathy. This study aims to investigate this further to look at the RDLPFC stimulation and its effects on empathy and two different types of impulsivity. Of interest is also how innate impulsive personality type and empathy trait relate to performance on these tasks.

Conditions

  • Impulsive Behavior
  • Empathy

Interventions

DEVICE

repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation

Each session of iTBS will apply3 trains of 600 pulses to the RDLPFC, with 20 2-second trains and an 8-second inter-train interval. Sham iTBS condition will be administered with the same methodology used for active iTBS condition with a sham coil mimicking noises and vibrations without delivery of magnetic pulses.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • University of Nottingham

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Birgit Völlm, PhD · Division of Psychiatry and Applied Psychology, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Model
CROSSOVER

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
30 Years
Sex
MALE
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2017-05-17
Primary Completion
2017-12-30
Completion
2017-12-30

Countries

  • United Kingdom

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT03200873 on ClinicalTrials.gov