TMS Measures of Plasticity and Excitatory/Inhibitory Ratio as Biomarkers: R-baclofen Effects in Normal Volunteers
Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT01172509. Field values are reproduced from the official study page; the official ClinicalTrials.gov record remains the source of truth for eligibility, enrollment, and contact information.
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Official title
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Measures of Plasticity and Excitatory/Inhibitory Ratio as Biomarkers for R-baclofen Effects in Normal Volunteers
Brief summary
Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.
Our overall objective is to apply Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) to develop measures of human synaptic plasticity and of brain excitatory:inhibitory ratio (E:I ratio), which we propose as novel biomarkers and outcome measures that will expedite clinical trials of treatments for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). One potential therapeutic agent, R-baclofen will be investigated under this protocol. TMS is a safe, inexpensive and noninvasive means to focally stimulate the human brain. Presently, TMS is in extensive use as a means to measure regional brain excitability, which is dependent on local synaptic strength. TMS can be used to temporarily alter synaptic strength as well as to acutely measure levels of cortical excitability and short and long interval inhibition. Since altered synaptic plasticity and an imbalanced inhibitory:excitatory ratio are cited as fundamental abnormalities in ASD, we hypothesize that both severity of ASD-related learning deficits and their improvement after therapy will correlate with TMS measures of synaptic plasticity and E:I ratio. We propose to embed TMS measures of synaptic plasticity and E:I ratio in a 'Proof of Principal' trial of R-baclofen and to examine: Aim 1: Whether R-baclofen (a potential therapeutic agent for ASD) predictably alters TMS measures of synaptic plasticity and E:I ratio as a function of plasma concentration in adult volunteers. We will test the following hypotheses: 1. R-baclofen produces a significant change in TMS measures of LTD and E:I ratio; and 2. R-baclofen plasma levels and TMS measures of LTD and E:I ratio show a predictable exposure-response relationship. Exploratory Aim 1: Whether the presence of genetic polymorphisms of the BDNF and GABA-B receptor genes has a moderating effect on TMS measures and on R-baclofen effects. We will test the following hypotheses: 1. Presence of the BDNF val66met allele will be associated with decreased long-term depression (LTD) of cortical excitability 2. Polymorphisms of GABA-B receptor genes will be associated with altered magnitude of response to R-baclofen as measured by TMS
Study identification
- NCT ID
- NCT01172509
- Recruitment status
- Terminated
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase 1
- Enrollment
- 6 participants
Conditions and interventions
Conditions
Eligibility (public fields only)
- Age range
- 18 Years to 30 Years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepts healthy volunteers
This page does not interpret eligibility. Detailed inclusion and exclusion criteria are on the official ClinicalTrials.gov record.
Study timeline
- Start date
- Sep 30, 2010
- Primary completion
- Jun 30, 2012
- Completion
- Jun 30, 2012
- Last update posted
- Aug 20, 2015
2010 – 2012
United States locations
- U.S. sites
- 1
- U.S. states
- 1
- U.S. cities
- 1
| Facility | City | State | ZIP | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berenson-Allen Center for Noninvansive Brain Stimulation Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center | Boston | Massachusetts | 02215 | — |
Site contact phone numbers, emails, and investigator names are intentionally not displayed here. Open the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for site contact information.
About this trial record page
- What this page shows
- Public field values for ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT01172509, including study identification, conditions, interventions, eligibility (age, sex, healthy volunteer), timeline, and U.S. site list.
- What this page does not do
- No medical advice, eligibility judgments, treatment recommendations, study quality scoring, or AI-generated medical summaries. No site contact phone numbers, emails, or investigator names.
- Where the data comes from
- Sourced from the official ClinicalTrials.gov public API. The official record is the source of truth.
- Last refresh
- Last update posted Aug 20, 2015 · Synced Sep 11, 2026
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Open the official record
The complete protocol, eligibility criteria, and contact information for NCT01172509 live on ClinicalTrials.gov.