Effects of Non-invasive Brain Stimulation on Pain Avoidance Behavior in Chronic Pain Patients
Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT07791966. 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.
Official title
Alpha tACS and Pain Avoidance Behavior in Chronic Pain Patients
Brief summary
Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.
Pain avoidance helps with survival. However, chronic pain patients often avoid valued life activities fearing onset or exacerbation of pain. Hence, pain avoidance no longer protects, but reduces quality of life. The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if non-invasive brain stimulation technique called transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) impact pain avoidance behavior in chronic pain patients. tACS is a way to gently stimulate the brain using a small, portable device. It sends an extremely weak, continuous alternating current through the scalp. Participants will either get real tACS or a fake (sham) version. Real tACS will stimulate the brain in the alpha frequency (8-12 Hz) which has been found to influence pain avoidance behavior, whereas sham tACS will stimulate the brain in a different frequency that is not known to influence avoidance behavior. The main questions it aims to answer are: Does tACS alter the way chronic pain patients confront pain in terms of avoidance behavior? How does tACS impact brain signals related to pain avoidance behavior? Participants will: 1. fill out self-administered questionnaires asking about their medication use, personality and temperament, mood, including anxiety and depression, current pain level, and any disability you have due to your pain. 2. perform of a pain avoidance task before, during and after 'real' tACS or 'sham' tACS. They may also be asked to stay quiet before, during and after tACS. During this period, we will scan the brain using a neuroimaging device called Magnetoencephalography (MEG). Additionally, Electroencephalography (EEG) brain signals will also be collected using electrodes affixed to the scalp. We may also measure Skin conductance response (SCR) and electrocardiography (EKG) using electrodes affixed to the skin. 3. also get a T1 MRI if they do not have an implanted SCS, DRG, intrathecal pump, or other similar device that are not MRI compatible.
Study identification
- NCT ID
- NCT07791966
- Recruitment status
- Recruiting
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Not applicable
- Enrollment
- 30 participants
Conditions and interventions
Conditions
Eligibility (public fields only)
- Age range
- 18 Years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Healthy volunteers not accepted
This page does not interpret eligibility. Detailed inclusion and exclusion criteria are on the official ClinicalTrials.gov record.
Study timeline
- Start date
- Sep 30, 2026
- Primary completion
- Aug 30, 2028
- Completion
- Nov 30, 2028
- Last update posted
- Aug 27, 2026
2026 – 2028
United States locations
- U.S. sites
- 1
- U.S. states
- 1
- U.S. cities
- 1
| Facility | City | State | ZIP | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Clinic | Cleveland | Ohio | 44195 | Recruiting |
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 NCT07791966, 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 27, 2026 · Synced Sep 2, 2026
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Open the official record
The complete protocol, eligibility criteria, and contact information for NCT07791966 live on ClinicalTrials.gov.