Neural Mechanisms of Interpersonal Expectations on Negative Affect

Recruiting now · Not applicable · Has a placebo group

Conditions studied: Negative Affectivity, Non-invasive Brain Stimulation, Placebo Effect, Expectations

In brief

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether non-invasive brain stimulation, called transcranial temporal interference stimulation (tTIS), can reduce negative affect, and how expectations shaped by care providers influence these effects. The main questions this study aims to answer are: (1)Does active tTIS reduce negative affect more effectively than sham (inactive) tTIS? (2)Do positive treatment expectations enhance the effects compared to negative expectations? Participants will: (1) Receive either active or sham tTIS. (2) Be provided with positive or negative messaging regarding treatment effectiveness. (3) Interact with care providers and complete assessments measuring negative affect and physiological responses.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT06980090

Run by

Trustees of Dartmouth College

People needed

196

Starts

2025-09-01

Expected to finish

2028-03-03

Last updated by the study team

2026-06-11

Who can join

Age: 18 and older, up to 55. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may qualify if…

• 'Doctors' are recruited from medical students at the Geisel School of Medicine and resident physicians at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC).

You may not qualify if…

• No self-reported current or history of depression, bipolar disorder, or other psychiatric diagnosis
• No self-reported current seizure disorder (i.e., seizure within past 10 years), or history of stroke or other major neurological diagnosis that can cause cognitive impairment
• No self-reported current chronic pain, or acute pain within three months of the study period
• No current migraine disorder (i.e., 15 headache days or more in 1 month)
• No use of central nervous system-effective medication or other medication for neurological/psychiatric treatment
• No self-reported substance abuse within the last six months
• No contraindication to MRI or tTIS (e.g., pregnancy, claustrophobia, pacemakers, ear/cochlear implants, shrapnel injuries, clips, or other ferromagnetic/electrical objects/devices, diagnosed brain abnormality such as tumor, or skin lesions on the scalp.)
• No contraindications for induced pain (e.g., no heart disease, high blood pressure, heart surgery, heart problems of any kind, severe asthma, respiratory problems of any kind, fibromyalgia, Raynaud's Syndrome or Disease, chronic pain, diabetes)
• Participants must be capable of performing experimental tasks (e.g., are able to read), are fluent or native speakers of English
• Participants must be able to tolerate the maximum level of thermal pain stimuli (for thermal stimuli)

Where it is running

• Dartmouth College, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences — Hanover, New Hampshire, United States (enrolling)

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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