An interventional study of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Device in Healthy Volunteers Only, sponsored by Brigham and Women's Hospital. Active, not recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 65 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-04-27.
Sponsored by Brigham and Women's Hospital · Not applicable, Interventional, and Basic science
The goal of this study is to develop and validate an approach for accurate targeting and stimulation of brain networks using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) using information from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data. This study requires two visits from each participant.
In the first visit, the participant will be scanned by MRI scanners to collect data from the brain.
Next, the data will be analyzed by the researcher to model the connections between different regions of the brain to determine the stimulation areas related to the so-called frontoparietal network.
In the second visit, the participants will take four TMS sessions with different types of stimulations applied to the computed targets and complete a computer-based task named multi-source interference task. Electroencephalogram (EEG) data will be collected during the TMS stimulations and tasks.
The main hypothesis is that applying TMS stimulations to the brain targets reduces the response time and response error in the tasks.
The main goal of this study is to develop and validate an approach to target and stimulate brain networks using transcranial magnetic stimulation using information from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Participants in this study will first be scanned using an MRI scanner to collect data from the brain. The MRI session will take about 40 minutes to acquire anatomical MRI, diffusion MRI, and resting-state functional MRI from the subjects.
Next, the researchers will analyze the MRI data to determine the stimulation areas of each participant. The method will provide two target areas in the brain, including an area in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and an area in the left inferior parietal lobule (IPL), which are involved in the frontoparietal network related to the executive control functions of the brain.
In the second visit, the participants will take TMS stimulations to the determined brain targets at DLPFC and IPL. The standard intermittent theta-burst (iTBS) protocol will be applied to the targets. To evaluate the effect of TMS stimulations, the participants will perform a computer-based task, named multi-source interference task (MSIT), before the TMS stimulation and another task after the TMS stimulations. The participants will click mouse buttons to respond to instructions in the tasks.
The response time and response error of the tasks will be the outcome measures of this study. The hypothesis is that applying TMS stimulations to the developed brain network targets reduces the response time and response error.
During the TMS stimulations and tasks, electroencephalogram (EEG) data will be collected from the participants. The EEG data, MRI data, and TMS-induced electric field maps will be analyzed and visualized using a software named SlicerTMS. However, the information shown in SlicerTMS will not be used to change the stimulation protocol in this study.
Brigham and Women's Hospital is the lead sponsor of 1,236 studies on the registry; 224 are open to participants now.
Of its 116 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 64 (55%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Exclusion Criteria:
Sham TMS coils will be applied to stimulate the brain targets. No magnetic field will be generated using the sham coil. It will play sounds similar to the true TMS stimulations with the pulsed weak electric current applied to the scalp to generate a similar feeling as in true stimulations.
Device: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Device
TMS with the intermittent theta burst stimulation protocol will be applied to the computed brain targets based on the MRI data of each participants.
Device: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Device
Transcranial magnetic stimulation uses FDA-approved coils to generate varying magnetic fields in the brain of the participant and induce an electric field in the underlying brain tissue. The standard intermittent Theta Burst Stimulation (iTBS) TMS protocol will be applied in this study. The same coil can be applied to generate sham stimulations that only generate sound and stimulations to the scalp without stimulating the brain.
choice reaction time (CRT)
CRT is the time that the participant takes to click the mouse button in the computer-based Multi-Source Interference Task.
Time frame: 5 to 15 minutes right before and after each TMS session
response error
The rate of incorrect response in the MSIT task.
Time frame: 5 to 15 minutes right before and after each TMS session
Plan to share: No
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
This study is active, not recruiting, as verified in Jan 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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Brigham and Women's Hospital