ClinicalTrials.gg
WithdrawnNCT05875181Updated Dec 13, 2024

Examining the Impact of Transcranial Focused Ultrasound (tFUS) on Reward Neural Circuitry

An interventional study of tFUS and Sham tFUS in Impulsive Behavior, sponsored by Mary Phillips, MD MD (Cantab). Withdrawn at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 35 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2024-12-13.

Sponsored by Mary Phillips, MD MD (Cantab) · Not applicable, Interventional, and Basic science

Why this study was withdrawn
The data from this pilot study was intended to generate effect sizes and pilot data for a subsequent grant application. However, the grant application was awarded funding before this pilot study collected data.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
0
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 35 Years
Sex
All
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Study summary

The investigators aim to examine the immediate effect of transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS) on brain activity and emotions in healthy adults as a first stage toward understanding the predisposing brain mechanisms of underlying substance use disorders.

Read the detailed description

In a small pilot study the investigators propose to demonstrate feasibility of using tFUS to target the ventral striatum (VS) in humans by examining VS target engagement by tFUS in healthy human volunteers using a reward processing task that reliably activates the VS.

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Conditions studied

  • Impulsive Behavior

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Keywords

  • transcranial focused ultrasound
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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In context

Impulsive Behavior

158 studies on the registry are indexed under Impulsive Behavior; 31 are open to participants now.

Browse Impulsive Behavior studies →

Lead sponsor

Mary Phillips, MD MD (Cantab) is the lead sponsor of 5 studies on the registry; 1 is open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 35 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • 18-35 years of age
  • No psychiatric history

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Not between 18-35 years of age
  • Has psychiatric history
  • History of head injury, neurological, pervasive developmental disorder (e.g. autism), systemic medical disease and treatment (medical records, participant report)
  • (MMSE) score (cognitive state) \<24
  • Premorbid North American Adult Reading Test (NAART) intelligent quotient (IQ) estimate\<85
  • Visual disturbance: \<20/40 Snellen visual acuity
  • Left/mixed handedness (Annett criteria)
  • History of alcohol/substance use disorder (SUD) (all substances, including nicotine), and/or illicit substance use (except cannabis) over the last 6 months (Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders , 5th Edition () (SCID-5)). Urine tests on scan days will exclude current illicit substance use (except cannabis). Salivary alcohol tests on scan days will exclude intoxicated individuals
  • Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exclusion: metallic objects, e.g., surgical implants; claustrophobia; positive pregnancy test for females or self-report pregnancy
  • Unable to understand English
  • Individuals with a positive pregnancy test will be excluded from the study and not undergo a computerized tomography (CT) scan or MRI scan
  • Present or history of seizure disorder
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(2)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

MMSE and MoCA

Short tests of memory and thinking, each scored out of 30. Lower scores suggest more difficulty; criteria give a range, either to include people with memory problems or to leave them out.

DSM diagnostic criteria

The American Psychiatric Association’s manual of mental health diagnoses. DSM-5 (2013, revised as DSM-5-TR in 2022) replaced DSM-IV, and some studies still name the older edition. “Meets DSM criteria for …” means diagnosed by that edition’s diagnostic criteria, usually by a clinician in an interview.

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Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Basic science
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
0 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    VS tFUS/Sham tFUS

    VS tFUS (tFUS applied to the ventral striatum) Sham tFUS (go through the motions of applying tFUS to the VS)

    Device: tFUS · Device: Sham tFUS

  • Experimental
    Sham tFUS/VS tFUS

    VS tFUS (tFUS applied to the ventral striatum) Sham tFUS (go through the motions of applying tFUS to the VS)

    Device: tFUS · Device: Sham tFUS

Interventions

  • DevicetFUS

    tFUS is a brief stimulation of a part of the brain called the ventral striatum with low-intensity sound waves that pass through the scalp and skull safely.

  • DeviceSham tFUS

    Sham tFUS goes through the motions of applying tFUS to the brain. Participants will know that one session will be a sham, but they will be blinded to which session is the sham

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What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal

    The blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal indicates brain activity and connectivity

    Time frame: 30-60 minutes

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Study locations

1 site
  • University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
    Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, United States
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References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Yes — Informed consent will be collected from study participants that allows for broad sharing of participants' de-identified data. Data transfer procedures will be in accordance with all Institutional Review Board guidelines and federal regulations including HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996).

Time frame: The principal investigators (PIs) reserve the right to publish on the stated aims in a timely manner. Data will be available for addressing other research questions (i.e. which are not described in funded/pending grants) as soon as the data have been checked for accuracy (a period which will be no later than one year after the completion of each assessment). After the study has ended, the study investigators will continue to test the stated aims, but will also continue to solicit collaborations with outside researchers and to consider data requests in a timely manner.

Access criteria: Outside investigators must submit a 1)proposal of the study aims, hypotheses, variables/constructs, analytic approach, and estimated duration of the proposed research; 2)resume, qualifications, source of financial support, and conflict of interest statement; 3)sign a data-sharing agreement and confidentiality statement that stipulates using the data for the stated research purposes only, securing the data using appropriate computer technology, not manipulating the data in order to identify participants, acknowledging the grant that supported data collection and management in publications/presentations, and destroying or returning the data after analyses are complete; 4)obtain approval from their Institutional Review Board, and along with other staff members who have access to the data, submit certificates of the University of Pittsburgh Education and Certification Program in Research Practice Fundamentals or provide written documentation pf similar human subjects protection training.

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Dec 13, 2024, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05875181
Lead sponsor
Mary Phillips, MD MD (Cantab)
Responsible party
Mary Phillips, MD MD (Cantab) (Professor, University of Pittsburgh) — Sponsor-investigator
First posted
May 25, 2023
Start date
Jun 19, 2023
Primary completion
Dec 1, 2024
Completion
Dec 2024 (estimated)
Last update
Dec 13, 2024

Study contacts

Mary Phillips, MD, MD
principal investigator · University of Pittsburgh
Fabio Ferrarelli, MD, PhD
principal investigator · University of Pittsburgh
Khaled Moussawi, MD, PhD
principal investigator · University of Pittsburgh

Oversight

FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
Yes
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is withdrawn, as verified in Dec 2024. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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