Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Conditions
Brief summary
Characterization and modulation of traumatic memories in PTSD patients using TMS.
Detailed description
Study goals: 1. Characterization of the cortical brain regions that are suitable for effective modulation with TMS, which has the highest connectivity to the sub-cortical regions that are in the strongest connectivity with areas that directly contribute to the formation and preservation of intrusive traumatic memories. 2. Examine the modulation of those cortical brain regions with TMS, while deliberately re-activating an intrusive traumatic memory, on the clinical symptoms of PTSD patients.
Interventions
Brain stimulation by the TMS device will be given after a deliberate memory re-activation, using repetitive pulses at 1Hz frequency for 15 minutes, the target area will be determined based on an fMRI scan in the resting state of the subject.
Sponsors
Tel Aviv University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
TRIPLE (Subject, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
20 Years to 65 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
1. Adults aged 20-65 of both sexes, who meet the diagnosis of PTSD according to DSM-5 as tested by a structured clinical interview (Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale - CAPS-5). The clinical interview will be performed by clinical psychologists. 2. CAPS-5 (Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale) score higher than 33. 3. Subjects who experience intrusive symptoms (flashbacks, nightmares, or intrusive memories) at least 4 times a week. 4. Only subjects with a level of Hebrew that allows a full understanding of the consent form to participate in the experiment will be included in the experiment. 5. In addition, the accepted criteria for inclusion for an MRI examination for medical purposes will be applied, according to the established procedures at the MRI Institute at the Sourasky Tel Aviv Medical Center and at the Imaging Center at Tel Aviv University.
Exclusion criteria
1. Subjects who meet the diagnosis of Complex PTSD or personality disorder. 2. Subjects who suffer or have suffered in the past from a psychotic disorder, bipolar disorder, or a developmental neuropsychological disorder (autism, mental retardation). 3. Use of psychiatric medications (except for the medications listed in section 4.a) will not be an expense criterion if the medication dosage is stable in the last three months and does not change during the study. In addition,
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| CAPS-5 score | Baseline, second measure after up to 12 weeks and last measure after up to 24 weeks. | The CAPS-5 is a 30-item structured interview that can be used to make current (past month or week) diagnosis of PTSD & make lifetime diagnosis of PTSD. |
| Neurological measures of functional connectivity | Baseline, after up to 12 weeks | Functional connectivity, indicating the level of synchronous activity of certain brain regions during rest (temporal correlation is usually expressed as a Pearson's r); Also to be derived from the MRI scans, and compared between the two groups over time. |
| Intrusive memories | Daily for up to 12 weeks | The amount, frequency and emotional effect of intrusive traumatic memories, measured by a daily self-report of the subject. |
Countries
Israel
Outcome results
None listed