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Not yet recruitingNCT06376877ConTRAUpdated Apr 19, 2024

Connectomic Targeted TMS Target for Refractory Anxiety

A Phase 2 interventional study of Transcranial magnetic stimulation and Sham transcranial magnetic stimulation in Anxiety Disorders, Mental Disorder and Psychiatric Disorder, sponsored by Brigham and Women's Hospital. Not yet recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 70 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2024-04-19.

Sponsored by Brigham and Women's Hospital · Phase 2, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
80
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 70 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

We will perform a randomized sham-controlled trial of aiTBS to an anxiosomatic circuit in patients with anxiety-related disorders (i.e., panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder). 80 participants with an anxiety-related disorder (defined below) will receive 50 active or sham TMS treatments over 5 days (following the SAINT protocol, which is FDA-cleared for MDD. The primary outcome will be the BAI, with a modified recall window to reflect the short treatment interval. Participants randomized to sham will be offered an open-label crossover extension.

Read the detailed description

We recently derived a novel TMS target for anxiety via lesion and brain stimulation mapping methods. We prospectively tested this target in a sample of participants with major depressive disorder (MDD) with comorbid anxiety symptoms and found that it was more effective for anxiety (median change 60.0% vs 39.8%, p=0.01) than the conventional TMS target for MDD with comorbid anxiety. While these results are promising, it remains unclear how our target works for anxiety-related disorders as opposed to MDD comorbid anxiety symptoms. Furthermore, we used conventional 10 Hz TMS, but accelerated intermittent theta burst stimulation (aiTBS) has now been shown to improve outcomes and is now an FDA approved treatment protocol. Finally, we tested the translational hypothesis that stimulating different circuits can modify different behaviors; clinical efficacy was a secondary outcome.

This double-blinded, randomized, sham-controlled aiTBS trial will test the efficacy of our novel anxiety target. 80 participants with anxiety-related disorders (i.e., panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder) will receive 50 active or sham TMS treatments over 5 days. Changes in anxiety symptoms/processes will be assessed via validated measures (primary outcome measure: Beck Anxiety Inventory) during treatment and follow-up visits up to one-year post-treatment. Participants randomized to sham who do not respond will be offered an open-label crossover extension.

02

Conditions studied

  • Anxiety Disorders
  • Mental Disorder
  • Psychiatric Disorder

Keywords

  • Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
  • accelerated intermittent theta burst stimulation
  • theta burst stimulation
  • brain stimulation
  • neuromodulation
  • anxiety
  • transcranial
  • TMS
  • neuronavigation
  • neuroimaging
03

In context

Anxiety Disorders

5,063 studies on the registry are indexed under Anxiety Disorders; 1,408 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 80 is close to the median of 80 across 4,339 interventional studies indexed under Anxiety Disorders.

Browse Anxiety Disorders studies →

Lead sponsor

Brigham and Women's Hospital is the lead sponsor of 1,263 studies on the registry; 225 are open to participants now.

Of its 116 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 65 (56%) have results posted.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 70 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

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

  • English proficiency sufficient for informed consent, questionnaires/tasks, and treatment
  • Diagnosis of one of the following anxiety-related disorders per Quick-SCID:

    • Generalized Anxiety Disorder
    • Social Anxiety Disorder
    • Panic Disorder
    • Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
    • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
  • Moderate level of anxiety (BAI >16)
  • One failed psychological or pharmacological treatment
  • Stable psychiatric medication regimen for 4 weeks prior to treatment and throughout treatment
  • Primary clinician (e.g. psychiatrist, psychologist, therapist, APRN, PA, etc.) responsible for psychiatric care before, during, and after the trial
  • Agreement to abstaining from becoming pregnant from screening to two weeks after treatment (the MRI visit)

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

    • Active pregnancy as determined by a urine pregnancy test

      • Recent (within 4 weeks) or concurrent use of rapid acting antidepressant agent (ketamine/esketamine/ECT)
      • History of:

        • Exposure to TMS within the last 3 months
        • Neurosurgical intervention for psychiatric disorders
        • Autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, or cognitive impairment that impairs capacity to consent
        • Significant neurological illness deemed to increase risk from treatment
        • Moderate to severe neurodegenerative disease
        • Untreated or insufficiently treated endocrine disorder
        • Treatment with investigational drug or intervention during the study period
        • Bipolar I disorder or schizophrenia
      • Anyone presenting with:

        • Mania or hypomania
        • Psychosis
        • Active suicidal ideation with intent and a plan (defined by Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale)
        • Contraindications to either TMS or MRI (e.g., metallic implants, severe insomnia > 4 hours per night with hypnotic, etc.).
        • Current moderate or severe substance use disorder (excluding cannabis or nicotine) or demonstrating signs of acute substance withdrawal
      • Positive urine drug screen for illicit substances for cocaine, amphetamines, phencyclidine, and opioids, except for prescribed medications or known medications with history of resulting in a false positive
      • Existing tinnitus (ringing in the ears)
      • Any other condition deemed by the PI to interfere with the study or increase risk to the participant
05

Study design

Phase
Phase 2
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Quadruple (Participant, Care provider, Investigator, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
80 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Active comparator
    Real aiTBS

    Participants in this group will receive aiTBS with neuronavigation to the anxiosomatic treatment target.

    Procedure: Transcranial magnetic stimulation

  • Sham comparator
    Sham aiTBS

    Participants in this group will receive sham aiTBS with neuronavigation to the anxiosomatic treatment target.

    Procedure: Sham transcranial magnetic stimulation

Interventions

  • ProcedureTranscranial magnetic stimulation

    Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a focal, non-invasive form of brain stimulation that has FDA clearance for depression. In this study, a form of TMS called accelerated intermittent theta burst stimulation will be administered under the supervision of a physician with TMS expertise.

  • ProcedureSham transcranial magnetic stimulation

    The sham TMS coil mimics the scalp sensation of real TMS by delivering a small amount of electrical current with a pair of surface electrodes.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI)

    21 item self-report scale that assesses anxiety symptoms, with a particular emphasis on physiological anxiety symptoms

    Time frame: One week and one month after treatment

Secondary outcomes

  1. Inventory of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms-II

    99 item self-report scale of mood (e.g. dysphoria, suicidality, mania) and anxiety (e.g. social anxiety, panic, checking/ordering, traumatic avoidance/intrusion)

    Time frame: One week and one month after treatment

  2. Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP)-Self Report, Distress, Fear, and Mania subfactors

    HiTOP is a psychiatric nosology that organizes dimensional constructs across multiple levels of abstraction (from broad spectra to specific symptoms). The HiTOP-self report Distress, Fear, and Mania subfactors contain 117 items that capture a broad range of specific mood and anxiety-relevant symptoms

    Time frame: One week and one month after treatment

  3. State-Trait Anxiety Inventory

    40 item self-report scale of present anxiety (i.e., state anxiety) and the general tendency toward anxiety

    Time frame: One week and one month after treatment

  4. Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ)

    16 item self-report scale of trait worry and anxious apprehension, a transdiagnostic construct characterized by a persistent pattern of negative future thinking

    Time frame: One week and one month after treatment

  5. Mood/Anxiety Symptoms Questionnaire: Anxious Arousal (MASQ:AA)

    90 item self-report with a 17 item scale that measures anxious arousal, a transdiagnostic construct characterized by a persistent pattern of hyperarousal/hypervigilance

    Time frame: One week and one month after treatment

  6. Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI)

    16 item self-report scale of concern about anxious cognitions/physiological sensations

    Time frame: One week and one month after treatment

  7. Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale (IUS)

    27 item self-report scale that measures cognitive, emotional, and behavioral reactions to the potential occurrence and unpredictability of negative future events

    Time frame: One week and one month after treatment

  8. Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)

    21 item self-report scale that assesses depression symptoms

    Time frame: One week and one month after treatment

  9. TCI-R140 (Temperament and character inventory, revised 140-question format)

    Psychobiologically-based personality inventory which measures seven personality dimensions (harm avoidance, novelty seeking, reward dependence, persistence, self-directedness, cooperativeness, and persistence). For each dimension, this yields a scaled T-score (mean score of 50 with standard deviation of 10). This is an overall estimate of personality traits, and there are no "better" or "worse" traits.

    Time frame: One week and one month after treatment

  10. Emotional Conflict Resolution Task

    Computer task measuring accuracy and reaction time

    Time frame: One week after treatment

  11. Laboratory Fear Extinction Paradigm

    We will use a validated fear extinction task (24) to assess the effects of anxiosomatic circuit TMS on fear discrimination and fear extinction. This task will consist of two learning phases: fear conditioning and fear extinction. We will measure fear via the skin conductance response.

    Time frame: One week after treatment

07

Study locations

1 site
08

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reachedSimilar studies: half by the dot; the band is the middle halfHalf of similar studies reached it by the dot; the band is the middle half, from a quarter to three quarters

Start is estimated for Aug 2024; primary completion for Aug 2028, 48 months later.

Of 65 non-industry phase 2 interventional studies under Anxiety Disorders, half reached primary completion within 43 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 18 and three quarters within 53. This study's planned 48 months is above that.

Counting every sponsor, half of 81 studies reached it within 34 months; a quarter within 16 and three quarters within 53.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Apr 17, 2024
First posted
Apr 19, 2024
StartEst.
Aug 1, 2024
Primary completionEst.
Aug 1, 2028
CompletionEst.
Feb 1, 2029
Last update
Apr 19, 2024
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Apr 19, 2024, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT06376877
Responsible party
Shan Siddiqi, MD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital) — Principal investigator
First posted
Apr 19, 2024
Start date
Aug 1, 2024 (estimated)
Primary completion
Aug 1, 2028 (estimated)
Completion
Feb 1, 2029 (estimated)
Last update
Apr 19, 2024

Study contacts

Emma Jones
Contact
bwhtmsanxiety@mgb.org
617-525-3536
Shan Siddiqi, MD
principal investigator · Brigham and Women's Hospital

Oversight

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

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This study is not yet recruiting, as verified in Apr 2024. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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