Effect of cTBS on Startle and TMS-evoked BOLD

Starting soon · Not applicable · Has a placebo group

Conditions studied: Anxiety

In brief

The right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) is increasingly being targeted with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to reduce anxiety expression; however, there is little mechanistic evidence supporting an optimized treatment protocol. Thus, the objective of the current project is to develop an interleaved TMS/fMRI that can assess the effect of neuromodulatory (potentially therapeutic) TMS protocols on neural and behavioral measures related to anxiety expression. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: These results will yield direct evidence that 1 Hz and cTBS modulate brain activity associated with anxiety expression and regulation, thus informing novel TMS based anxiety treatments.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT07415772

Run by

University of Pennsylvania

People needed

140

Starts

2026-09-01

Expected to finish

2031-06-30

Last updated by the study team

2026-08-10

Who can join

Age: 18 and older, up to 50. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Able to give their consent
• Right-handed
• Individuals receiving therapy for anxiety must be stable on their regimen for at least 4 weeks prior to study enrollment.

You may not qualify if…

• Non-english speaking
• Any significant medical or neurological problems
• Current or past non-anxiety-related psychiatric comorbidity, active or history of active suicidal ideation
• Alcohol/drug problems in the past year or lifetime alcohol or drug dependence
• Medications that act on the central nervous system
• History of seizure
• History of epilepsy
• Increased risk of seizure for any reason
• Pregnancy, or positive pregnancy test
• Any medical condition that increases risk for fMRI or TMS
• Any metal in their body which would make having an MRI scan unsafe
• Any sort of medical implants
• Hearing loss
• Claustrophobia
• orthostatic hypotension

Where it is running

• University of Pennsylvania — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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