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Effect of cTBS on Startle and TMS-evoked BOLD

NCT07415772 · Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 140

Last updated 2026-02-17

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

The right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) is increasingly being targeted with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to reduce anxiety expression; however, there is little mechanistic evidence supporting an optimized treatment protocol. Thus, the objective of the current project is to develop an interleaved TMS/fMRI that can assess the effect of neuromodulatory (potentially therapeutic) TMS protocols on neural and behavioral measures related to anxiety expression. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: These results will yield direct evidence that 1 Hz and cTBS modulate brain activity associated with anxiety expression and regulation, thus informing novel TMS based anxiety treatments.

Conditions

Interventions

DEVICE

Active TMS

Subjects will receive a continuous 1800 pulse cTBS train to the right dlPFC at 100% of motor threshold. The train will consist of 50 Hz bursts, repeated at intervals of 200 ms (5 Hz) for 40 sec.

DEVICE

Sham TMS

Subjects will receive a series of 100 single pulses to the right dlPFC at 100% of motor threshold. Pulses will be randomly jittered and have an average interpulse interval of 6 ± 4 seconds. Single pulses delivered in such a fashion have been shown to have little or no neuromodulatory effect on subsequent cortical excitability.

Sponsors & Collaborators

Principal Investigators

  • Nicholas Balderston, PhD · University of Pennsylvania

Study Design

Allocation
NA
Purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
NONE
Model
CROSSOVER

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
50 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2026-07-01
Primary Completion
2031-06-01
Completion
2031-06-30
FDA Device
Yes

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

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Diseases
Companies

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 NCT07415772 on ClinicalTrials.gov