An interventional study of Transcranial magnet stimulation and Sham Transcranial magnet stimulation in Depression and Executive Dysfunction, sponsored by University Hospital of North Norway. Completed at 1 site in Norway. Open to participants aged 22 Years to 65 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-01-22.
Sponsored by University Hospital of North Norway · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
The present study is a randomized placebo-controlled trial examining the effect of intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) on unipolar depression. iTBS is a form of transcranial magnet stimulation.
The anti-depressive effect of two weeks of once- a - day neuronavigated iTBS over the dorsolateral left prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) will be investigated in comparison to sham (placebo) iTBS. Previous studies have shown that iTBS is an effective treatment for reducing symptoms of depression, but it is still unclear why some patients have a strong response to iTBS, whereas others show less or no reduction to test possible factors that can explain the inter-individual response to iTBS.
Measures of cognitive functions, structural and functional brain data measured by Magnetic Resonance imaging (MRi), quality of life, sleep quality, general health status, and genetic measures will be obtained to answer the goals of this study.
The main hypotheses are: 1) Patients receiving iTBS will display significantly larger reductions in depressive symptoms measured by the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale and Becks Depression Inventory II compared to patients receiving sham stimulation. 2) Reduction in depressive symptoms will be significantly associated with a concomitant improvement in executive functions measured by neuropsychological tests. 3) Stronger connectivity at baseline between the DLFPC and the anterior cingulate cortices will be associated with better response to iTBS. 4) Variability in genetic measures will be significantly associated with treatment response to iTBS. 5) Variability in white matter structural measures of the brain will be significantly associated with the anti-depressive response to iTBS.
Participants will be recruited prospectively, and the study performed at a single university hospital. After written informed consent is obtained from eligible, volunteering patients, baseline measurements will be administrated, and the patient will be allocated to either sham or active iTBS once a day for 10 consecutive workdays. Four weeks after the last treatment day, the patients will be followed up by phone interviews.
8,057 studies on the registry are indexed under Depression; 1,643 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 73 is below the median of 84 across 6,718 interventional studies indexed under Depression.
Browse Depression studies →University Hospital of North Norway is the lead sponsor of 150 studies on the registry; 23 are open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Exclusion Criteria:
iTBS will be delivered with 120% of resting motor threshold, triplet 50 Hz bursts repeated at 5 Hz; 2 seconds on and 8 s off, 600 pulses per session with a total duration of 3 min 9 s. Treatment will be provided for 10 days for two consecutive weeks (except Saturdays and Sundays). Each patient will start treatment at the same time between 9 am and 3 pm during the 10-day treatment period.
Device: Transcranial magnet stimulation
The sham system has an identical look, weight and sound compared to the true coil, and delivers electrical stimulation that can be felt at the skin but without penetrating the skull and thus not inducing any treatment effect. The sham stimulation will be given with the same procedure as the active stimulation; 2 seconds on and 8 s off, 600 pulses per session with a total duration of 3 min 9 s.
Device: Sham Transcranial magnet stimulation
Theta burst stimulation, which is a form of Transcranial magnet stimulation, works by inducing focused magnetic field pulses to make durable changes in the activity of brain regions. The magnetic pulses are transferred to the brain through an electromagnetic coil.
Also known as: Theta burst stimulation
Similar in appearance and give the same sound as the active device, but deliver no magnetic pulse that reach the brain
Also known as: Sham Theta burst stimulation
Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale.
Clinician rated depression inventory.
Time frame: Up to 4 months.
Beck's Depression Inventory - II.
Patient reported depression inventory.
Time frame: Up to 4 months.
Beck's Anxiety Inventory.
Patient reported anxiety inventory.
Time frame: Up to 4 months.
Wisconsin Card Sorting Test.
Performance based measure of executive functions.
Time frame: Up to 2 weeks.
Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System.
Performance based measure of executive functions.
Time frame: Up to 2 weeks.
Brief-A
Questionnaire for self-reported executive functioning.
Time frame: Up to 4 months.
Whodas 2.0
Self-reported disability assessment schedule.
Time frame: Up to 4 months.
Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index.
Self-reported measure of sleep quality.
Time frame: Up to 4 months.
Plan to share: Yes — Anonymized data for outcome measures in the study.
Supporting information: Sap, Analytic code
This study is completed, as verified in Jun 2022. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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University Hospital of North Norway