RightFit
RecruitingPhase 1 / Phase 2

rTMS to Improve Cognition in Parkinson's

rTMS as a Cognitive Rehabilitation Approach in Veterans With Parkinson's Disease

Who can join

As published by the study on ClinicalTrials.gov. "Not stated" means the study hasn't said — ask the study team.

Age
50 Years and older
Sex
All sexes
Healthy volunteers
Not accepted
Compensation
Not stated

Other requirements are listed under Eligibility below. Only the study team can confirm whether you can join.

What to expect

No one can promise a trial will help you personally — that is what the research is trying to find out.

What participation involves

Not stated in the study description — ask the study team about visits and procedures.

Compensation
Not stated
  • Study-related exams and procedures are typically provided at no cost. This is how many trials work in general — confirm the details for this study with the study team.
  • Participants are monitored closely by the research team throughout the study.
  • Some participants may receive access to an investigational treatment, which is still being studied.
  • Your participation helps researchers learn whether this approach could help future patients.

About this study

In plain language

This study tests whether rTMS, a treatment that uses magnetic pulses without surgery, may improve thinking. It is for Veterans with Parkinson's disease or atypical parkinsonism, a group of similar conditions, who have mild thinking problems. The study also checks safety, how practical the treatment is, and its effects on behavior and the brain.

The purpose of this study is to examine safety, feasibility, and the behavioral and brain effects of a non-invasive treatment, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), for Veterans with Parkinson's disease or atypical parkinsonism and mild impairments in their thinking. The hypothesis is that rTMS can improve thinking for people with Parkinson's disease or atypical parkinsonism who are experiencing mild problems with their thinking ability.

Compensation is read from the study's own description and may be missing — always confirm with the study team.

Eligibility

Who can join

  • You are a Veteran seeking care at Hines VA Hospital or Jesse Brown VA Medical Center.
  • A neurologist, a doctor who treats brain and nerve conditions, has diagnosed Parkinson's disease or atypical parkinsonism.
  • You have mild problems with thinking that meet the study's rules.
  • Your medicines and doses are stable and are expected to stay the same during the study.
  • You speak and read English.
  • You are 50 or older.

Who can't join

  • You have dementia, more serious problems with memory and thinking, or cannot show that you can make decisions.
  • You have severe depression or a history of claustrophobia, a fear of enclosed spaces.
  • You have had deep brain stimulation surgery, have head shaking at rest, or have uncontrolled movements that would affect brain scans.
  • You have congestive heart failure, meaning your heart does not pump well enough.
  • You have an implanted heart pacemaker or defibrillator, hearing implant, nerve stimulator, medical pump, or metal clips inside your skull; metal in your eyes or face; or bullet or shrapnel pieces in your brain.
  • You have high pressure inside your skull or a higher seizure risk. This includes a personal or family history of seizures or epilepsy, a past stroke or head injury, or another brain or nerve disease that raises seizure risk, such as a bulging blood vessel in the brain.
  • You take medicines that raise seizure risk, including tricyclic antidepressants or neuroleptic medicines, or have a condition that changes your body's salt and mineral balance or raises seizure risk.
  • The study team cannot measure the brain stimulation level needed to cause a muscle response, so it cannot set your rTMS dose accurately.

Simplified for readability. The official criteria below are what the study team uses.

Official eligibility criteria

Inclusion Criteria: * Veterans who seek services at Hines VA Hospital or Jesse Brown VA Medical Center * Diagnosis of PD or atypical parkinsonism as determined by a neurologist * Meet criteria for having mild cognitive impairment * Receiving stable (i.e., no changes in medication and medication dose) medication and who are expected to remain on stable medication for the duration of the RCT * Speak and read English * 50 years or older Exclusion Criteria: * Dementia * Failure to demonstrate decision making capacity * History of deep brain stimulation surgery * Severe depression * Resting head tremor * Dyskinesia that will interfere with collecting imaging data * Has congestive heart failure * Implanted cardiac pacemaker or defibrillator * Cochlear implant, nerve stimulator, or intracranial metal clips * Implanted medical pump * Increased intracranial pressure * History of claustrophobia * Metal in eyes/face, shrapnel/bullet remnants in brain * Participants at potential increased risk of seizure including those who have the following: * history (or family history) of seizure or epilepsy * history of stroke, head injury, or unexplained seizures * presence of other neurological disease that may be associated with an altered seizure threshold * such as CVA, cerebral aneurysm, dementia, increased intracranial pressure * Concurrent medication use such as tricyclic antidepressants, neuroleptic medications, any other drug known to lower seizure threshold * Secondary conditions that may significantly alter electrolyte balance or lower seizure threshold * No quantifiable motor threshold such that rTMS dosage cannot be accurately deter-mined

Study sites (2)

IL