MRI-Guided Accelerated cTBS for Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Starting soon · Not applicable · Has a placebo group

Conditions studied: Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

In brief

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is a common psychiatric disorder associated with persistent anxiety, functional impairment, and incomplete response to existing treatments. Although transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has shown therapeutic potential in anxiety disorders, conventional treatment schedules often require several weeks and may not provide sufficiently rapid symptom relief. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of precision-targeted accelerated continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS) guided by individualized functional connectivity between the intraparietal sulcus (IPS) and the amygdala in patients with GAD.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT07640945

Run by

Central South University

People needed

75

Starts

2026-06-01

Expected to finish

2027-02-01

Last updated by the study team

2026-06-11

Who can join

Age: 18 and older, up to 65. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Outpatients or inpatients at the Second Xiangya Hospital who are confirmed by two experienced psychiatrists to meet the International Classification of Diseases 11th Revision (ICD-11) diagnostic criteria for generalized anxiety disorder.
• Aged 18 to 65 years, regardless of gender.
• Right-handed.
• Junior high school education or above, with the ability to provide informed consent and complete cognitive assessments.
• Able to receive anti-anxiety treatment during the follow-up period according to the instructions of outpatient or inpatient physicians.
• Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA) score ≥14 and Patient Health Questionnaire-15 (PHQ-15) score ≥5.

You may not qualify if…

• Presence of psychotic symptoms.
• Diagnosis of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, schizophreniform disorder, delusional disorder, current psychiatric symptoms, or post-traumatic stress disorder based on SCID-5 assessment, either currently or within the past year.
• Organic brain disease or severe somatic diseases, such as thyroid disease, lupus, diabetes, lung disease, liver disease, kidney disease, infection, or major trauma.
• Intracranial implants.
• Clinically significant sensory impairments that cannot be corrected, such as color blindness or hearing impairment.
• Pregnant or breastfeeding women.
• Positive urine drug screen.
• Abnormal thyroid function tests.
• Personal history of epilepsy or family history of epilepsy.
• Receipt of physical therapy within the past six months, such as repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation or electroconvulsive therapy.
• Suspected or confirmed history of alcohol or drug dependence.
• Use of anticoagulants, such as heparin or warfarin, corticosteroids, or thyroid disease treatments within the past three months.
• Current use of psychoactive medications.
• Receipt of neurocognitive assessments similar to those used in this study within the past 12 months.

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

Trial information comes from ClinicalTrials.gov and is refreshed daily. TrialsForMe does not provide medical care and does not run the studies it lists.