Effects of Connectivity-based rTMS and State-Dependency on Amygdala Activation
Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT03746405. 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.
Data is sourced from official ClinicalTrials.gov public API records. Always review the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for the latest information.
Brief summary
Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a highly debilitating disease with response rates to pharmacological treatment rarely exceeding 60%. Preliminary attempts have been made to use repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) as a non-pharmacological treatment alternative, but thus far rTMS approaches have demonstrated only modest efficacy. A major factor contributing to these limited effects stems from the depth penetration of TMS, which is not sufficient to directly modulate deep subcortical structures, such as the amygdala, that are affected in PTSD. Moreover, while rTMS effects have been shown to be state-dependent, (i.e. vary substantially according to the neural state during stimulation), this important factor is rarely considered during the clinical application of rTMS. The current study addresses both of these limitations to improve the therapeutic efficacy of rTMS for PTSD. Here we will develop a protocol to test if connectivity-based rTMS is able to modulate amygdala activity through the functional connections with medial prefrontal cortex, taking advantage of state-dependency to enhance rTMS effects by actively engaging the amygdala through a fear perception task. BOLD activation in the amygdala and its connectivity with the frontal cortex will constitute the primary outcomes to test rTMS efficacy. Heart rate variability and skin galvanic responses, acquired during the presentation of fearful faces, will be used as continuous moderators of task engagement during rTMS. If successful, this study will pave the way for a large-scale study to investigate whether state-dependent, connectivity-based rTMS of the amygdala can improve rTMS efficacy as a clinical treatment for PTSD.
Study identification
- NCT ID
- NCT03746405
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Not applicable
- Enrollment
- 25 participants
Conditions and interventions
Conditions
Interventions
- repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation Device
- Sham repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation Device
Device
Eligibility (public fields only)
- Age range
- 18 Years to 35 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
- Jun 15, 2019
- Primary completion
- Jan 30, 2020
- Completion
- Jan 30, 2020
- Last update posted
- Dec 9, 2020
2019 – 2020
United States locations
- U.S. sites
- 1
- U.S. states
- 1
- U.S. cities
- 1
| Facility | City | State | ZIP | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duke University Medical Center | Durham | North Carolina | 27705 | — |
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 NCT03746405, 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 Dec 9, 2020 · Synced Sep 2, 2026
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Open the official record
The complete protocol, eligibility criteria, and contact information for NCT03746405 live on ClinicalTrials.gov.