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Brain Stimulation to the Hippocampus in Schizophrenia

Theta Burst Modulation of Hippocampal-Cortical Rhythms in Schizophrenia

Status
Recruiting
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT07010614
Enrollment
60
Registered
2025-06-08
Start date
2025-10-01
Completion date
2027-09-30
Last updated
2026-02-27

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Mental Disorder, Psychotic Disorder, Schizophrenia Disorders

Keywords

schizophrenia, transcranial magnetic stimulation, TMS, EEG

Brief summary

Schizophrenia - marked by delusions, hallucinations, and cognitive deficits - causes the most disability of any mental health condition, but existing treatments have significant side effect burden and are often ineffective. Disordered neural activity in the hippocampus likely contributes to schizophrenia symptoms, but to develop better therapies we need to understand whether hippocampal activity in schizophrenia can be systematically affected by non-invasive brain stimulation techniques like transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). This proposal will investigate the use of connectivity-guided theta burst brain stimulation to specifically target hippocampal function in schizophrenia, offering insights into fundamental hippocampal processes, schizophrenia pathophysiology, and potential avenues to use brain stimulation as a therapeutic tool in this devastating illness.

Interventions

Intracranial electrodes will be used for the delivery of invasive electrical brain stimulation.

DEVICETMS

TMS will be used for the delivery of noninvasive brain stimulation

DEVICETMS sham

Sham TMS will be used as a comparator for noninvasive brain stimulation

Sponsors

Stanford University
Lead SponsorOTHER
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
CollaboratorNIH

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
CROSSOVER
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 65 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

* Men and women, ages 18 to 65 years * Medically intractable epilepsy requiring phase II monitoring (intracranial EEG arms only) * DSM-V diagnosis of schizophrenia spectrum Axis I disorders including delusional disorder, brief psychotic disorder, schizophreniform disorder, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder (non-invasive TMS-EEG arms only). * Must have intellectual capacity to ensure adequate comprehension of the study and potential risks involved in order to provide informed consent * No current or history of major neurological disorders other than epilepsy.

Exclusion criteria

* DSM5 diagnosis of intellectual disability * Significant head injury * Active suicidal ideation or history of suicide attempt within the past 1 year. * Medical illness affecting brain structure or function, or other uncontrolled or unstable medical condition. * Pregnancy or postpartum (\<6 weeks after delivery or miscarriage) * Inability to provide informed consent * Active substance abuse other than alcohol or cannabis within the past 1 year * Psychotic illness with a temporal relation to substance use or head injury * Those with a contraindication for MRIs or TMS (e.g. implanted metal).

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change in intracranial EEG after one TBS session45 minutesChange in spontaneous oscillatory EEG power from before to after application of one TBS session, for active and sham stimulation, as measured via intracranial recording electrodes (iEEG).
Change in scalp EEG after one TBS session45 minutesChange in spontaneous oscillatory EEG power from before to after application of one TBS session, for active and sham stimulation, as measured via scalp recording electrodes (scalp electroencephalography).

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change in TMS-provoked EEG power45 minutesChange in oscillatory EEG power as provoked by repeated single pulses of TMS, compared from before to after a single session of TBS.
Change in electrical stimulation provoked iEEG power45 minutesChange in oscillatory iEEG power as provoked by repeated single pulses of invasive electrical stimulation, compared from before to after a single session of TBS.

Countries

United States

Contacts

CONTACTStudy Team
kellerlab@stanford.edu408-840-3313
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOREthan A Solomon, MD, PhD

Stanford University

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 28, 2026