cTBS for PTSD

N/A

Recruiting

Led By Michael Borich, PhD

Research Sponsored by Emory University

Eligibility Criteria Checklist

Specific guidelines that determine who can or cannot participate in a clinical trial

Must have

Be older than 18 years old

Timeline

Screening 3 weeks

Treatment Varies

Follow Up study day 30 and 31

Summary

This trial will test if a non-invasive brain intervention can reduce the risk of developing PTSD after a traumatic event.

Who is the study for?

This trial is for adults who can consent and have been clinically diagnosed with PTSD. They should be willing to participate and not have musculoskeletal or neurological diseases. It's not for those with TMS or MRI contraindications, minors, pregnant women, prisoners, people outside the age range set by the study, those with dementia signs, on psychoactive meds recently, major head trauma survivors, neurodegenerative disorder patients or recent substance abusers.

What is being tested?

The trial tests if disrupting memory consolidation using non-invasive brain stimulation (cTBS) after a traumatic event can lessen fear responses and lower PTSD risk. Participants will receive either real cTBS or a sham (fake) treatment to compare effects on fear memories.

What are the potential side effects?

While specific side effects are not listed here for cTBS in this context of treating PTSD symptoms post-trauma exposure; generally cTBS may cause discomfort at the stimulation site, headache, lightheadedness or seizures in very rare cases.

Timeline

Screening ~ 3 weeks3 visits

Treatment ~ Varies

Follow Up ~ study day 30 and 31

Screening ~ 3 weeks

Treatment ~ Varies

Follow Up ~study day 30 and 31

This trial's timeline: 3 weeks for screening, Varies for treatment, and study day 30 and 31 for reporting.

Treatment Details

Study Objectives

Study objectives can provide a clearer picture of what you can expect from a treatment.

Primary study objectives

Neurons

Changes in Neural Connections: Regional activation

Secondary study objectives

Acoustic Startle response

Behavior Therapy

Changes in Measures of skin conductive response

+1 more

Trial Design

2Treatment groups

Experimental Treatment

Placebo Group

Group I: cTBS: Inhibitory Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to sensory CortexExperimental Treatment1 Intervention

Participants will undergo a Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan while performing a fear conditioning/extinction task at the Center for Systems Imaging- Emory University Hospital (CSI-EUH) and then either stay at CSI-EUH or relocate to the Neural Plasticity Research Laboratory at Emory Rehabilitation Hospital. Participants will then be randomly assigned to either receive active or sham continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) to transiently disrupt neural activity in the targeted sensory cortex region specifically during the sensory memory consolidation window.

Group II: Sham cTBSPlacebo Group1 Intervention

Participants will undergo a Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan while performing a fear conditioning/extinction task at CSI-EUH and then either stay at CSI-EUH or relocate to the Neural Plasticity Research Laboratory at Emory Rehabilitation Hospital. Participants will then be randomly assigned to either receive active or sham continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) to transiently disrupt neural activity in the targeted sensory cortex region specifically during the sensory memory consolidation window.

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