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Precision HD-tACS for Enhancing Sensory Experience in Schizophrenia

NCT07632261 · Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 80

Last updated 2026-06-08

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

To ensure unified sensory perception, the brain must link information from different senses across time and space. This unification of perception often referred to as a perceptual "binding constraint" is a prerequisite for any organized perception. Patients with schizophrenia exhibit deficits in the spatiotemporal binding of sensory information . Electroencephalography (EEG) studies highlight the role of delta-theta oscillatory dynamics (2-8 Hz) in neuronal entrainment processes underlying spatiotemporal binding, which enables the formation of a coherent and organized perceptual representation . These same dynamics are disrupted in schizophrenia .

In tasks assessing perceptual binding, such alterations manifest as widened temporal binding windows, reflecting impaired temporal structuring of visual events. Physiologically, these disruptions may stem from impaired feedback mechanisms within the cortico-cerebello-thalamo-cortical (CCTC) loop. Schizophrenia patients also exhibit functional and structural deficits in the pulvinar and frontal cortex, key nodes of the CCTC loop .

Recent technical advances in transcranial neurostimulation have reinforced its potential as a therapeutic tool. High-definition transcranial alternating current stimulation (HD-tACS) now enables individualized modulation of pre-identified neural networks , including targeted interventions for schizophrenia . Based on a personalized stimulation protocol, this research project proposes precision HD-tACS therapy, tailored for each patient according to their delta-theta peak frequency measured via EEG and the optimal functional stimulation site identified with functional MRI (fMRI). Stimulation will be applied functionally, i.e., while the patient performs a cognitive task.

Structural connectivity alterations have been observed in fronto-thalamic, thalamo-cingulate, and cortico-cerebellar pathways in schizophrenia, potentially underpinning temporal and spatial binding deficits. Assessing the integrity of the CCTC loop with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) will allow quantification of fiber coherence and white matter density connecting cortical and subcortical regions within this network.To evaluate both baseline perceptual deficits and the potential improvements induced by stimulation, a control group of healthy participants will be included.

Conditions

  • SCHIZOPHRENIA 1 (Disorder)
  • Sensory Perceptual Characteristics

Interventions

DEVICE

Sham Transcranial neurostimulation

Sham HD-tACS

DEVICE

Transcranial neurostimulation

Active HD-tACS

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Hôpital le Vinatier

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • William VALLET, PhD · Le Vinatier Psychiatrie Universitaire Lyon Métropole

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
DOUBLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

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

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2026-06-15
Primary Completion
2026-06-15
Completion
2030-05-01

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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 NCT07632261 on ClinicalTrials.gov