An interventional study of navigated Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and navigated Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Schizophrenia and Schizoaffective Disorder, sponsored by Niuvanniemi Hospital. Active, not recruiting at 1 site in Finland. Open to male participants aged 18 Years to 64 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-05-19.
Sponsored by Niuvanniemi Hospital · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
Since 1990s, stimulation of prefrontal cortex (PFC) has shown therapeutic effects on auditory hallucinations as well as negative symptoms of schizophrenia. However, previous studies have reported mixed or negative results. Majority of the repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) studies to date has set the target of cortical stimulation based on scalp site. Recently introduced method, navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (nTMS) integrates the individual MRI data, and thus allows more precise targeting on brain cortical regions enhancing the efficacy of rTMS. Previous EEG studies have suggested reduced alpha band activity in patients with schizophrenia. Some recent studies using alpha (α) EEG guided TMS for treating positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia have demonstrated promising results.
The aim of the study is to investigate the efficacy of navigated individualized αTMS in treatment-resistant patients with schizophrenia. Approximately fifty patients with DSM-IV schizophrenia will be enrolled in this randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled study. The patients will receive 13 - 15 session of αTMS to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), as adjunctive therapy, for 3 weeks. We assess patients via the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Clinical Global Impression (CGI) and neurocognitive test battery at baseline, 5 days after and 3 months after treatment. Serum and plasma levels of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) are assayed at pre and post treatment weeks.
3,471 studies on the registry are indexed under Schizophrenia; 472 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 50 is below the median of 70 across 2,872 interventional studies indexed under Schizophrenia.
Browse Schizophrenia studies →Niuvanniemi Hospital is the lead sponsor of 4 studies on the registry; none are open to participants now.
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Exclusion Criteria:
navigated Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
navigated Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation using sham coil
Device: navigated Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
* individualized α frequency * left DLPFC 110% motor threshold (MT) * 13-15 sessions for 3 weeks
Also known as: TMS, rTMS
\- placebo treatment: sham coil
Also known as: TMS, rTMS
Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS)
change in PANSS total, positive, negative and general psychopathology sum score
Time frame: at baseline,5 days after treatment, 3 months after treatment
Clinical Global Impression - Improvement scale (CGI-I)
change in patient's illness relative to baseline state
Time frame: at 5 days after treatment, 3 months after treatment
Neuropsychology test battery
Neuropsychology test battery consists of 6 tests for measuring neurocognitive function.
Time frame: at baseline, 5 days after treatment, 3 months after treatment
plasma and serum levels of Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (P-/S-BDNF)
change in P-/S-BDNF levels
Time frame: at baseline, 1 week after treatment
This study is active, not recruiting, as verified in May 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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Niuvanniemi Hospital