Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Treatment for Alzheimer's Disease
Neuromodulation of Brain Function in Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias
Who can join
As published by the study on ClinicalTrials.gov. "Not stated" means the study hasn't said — ask the study team.
- Age
- 40 Years to 99 Years
- Sex
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers
- 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
- Visits mentioned: 1 visit
- Procedures mentioned: MRI scans
Only what the study's summary and detailed description on ClinicalTrials.gov say. Time periods may describe the whole study or a part of it — ask the study team what applies to you.
Show the study's own words
- "Changes resulting from this stimulation will be measured with behavioral tests of memory and general cognition, as well as by taking images of your brain with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)."
- "Participants will come in for one baseline visit followed by 10 days of daily rTMS study visits (Monday through Friday) and an evaluation visit."
- 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 how repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), which uses magnets to change brain activity without surgery, affects memory and how parts of the brain work together. It includes adults with mild memory loss, certain language problems, or early signs of Alzheimer's disease without thinking problems. Researchers will use memory and thinking tests and MRI brain scans to measure changes.
In this research study we want to learn more about the effects of non-invasive brain stimulation on memory and brain-network function in cognitively unimpaired older adults and in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). This study will use a form of non-invasive brain stimulation called repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS). rTMS will slightly alter activity in an area of your brain that controls memory. Changes resulting from this stimulation will be measured with behavioral tests of memory and general cognition, as well as by taking images of your brain with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Participants will come in for one baseline visit followed by 10 days of daily rTMS study visits (Monday through Friday) and an evaluation visit. Then, there will be a 2-week break. After this break, they will return for another baseline visit, an additional 10 days of rTMS, and a final evaluation visit.
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 40 to 99 years old.
- English is your native language.
- You are willing and able to agree to join and have brain scans and memory and thinking tests at the planned times.
- You have very mild or mild primary progressive aphasia (PPA), a condition that affects language; mild memory loss called amnestic mild cognitive impairment; or early signs of Alzheimer's disease without thinking problems.
- If you have PPA, you must bring a study partner to every visit.
Who can't join
- You have had a head injury that caused you to pass out or changed your awareness, another major brain or mental health condition, or known brain damage such as a tumor or stroke.
- You cannot safely have an MRI because of devices or metal in your body, such as a pacemaker, aneurysm clip, artificial heart valve, ear implant, or metal fragments.
- You had alcohol or drug abuse for more than 10 years before symptoms began, and it continued through the time those symptoms started.
- You have a serious illness affecting your body or an unstable health condition that could make it hard to follow the study plan.
- You are unwilling to return for follow-up visits or have memory and thinking tests, TMS, or MRI scans.
- You have had seizures without a clear trigger, or a parent, sibling, or child has a seizure disorder.
- You take or plan to take medicines that greatly raise seizure risk: clozapine, bupropion above 400 mg daily, diphenhydramine, cyclosporine, isoniazid, imipenem, chloroquine, tramadol, or theophylline.
- You are currently receiving anti-amyloid treatment, which targets a protein linked to Alzheimer's disease. These treatments can cause brain changes with bleeding that could trigger seizures.
Simplified for readability. The official criteria below are what the study team uses.
Official eligibility criteria
Inclusion Criteria: 1. Between the ages of 40-99 2. Native English speakers 3. Willing and able to consent to the protocol and undergo imaging and neuropsychological testing at the specified time points 4. Patients with PPA will be asked to bring a study partner to all visits 5. Patients with very mild or mild PPA, patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment and cognitively unimpaired participants with preclinical AD will be included. Exclusion Criteria: 1. History of head trauma involving loss of consciousness or alteration in consciousness 2. Another major neurologic or psychiatric condition 3. Known presence of a structural brain lesion (e.g. tumor, cortical infarct) 4. Any contraindication to MRI, such as presence of pacemakers, aneurysm clips, artificial heart valves, ear implants, metal fragments, or foreign objects in the eyes, skin, or body 5. Longstanding premorbid history (i.e. longer than 10 years) of alcohol or substance abuse with continuous abuse up to and including the time that the symptoms leading to clinical presentation developed 6. Any significant systemic illness or unstable medical condition which could lead to difficulty complying with the study protocol. 7. Unwilling to return for follow-up, undergo neuropsychological testing, TMS, and MR imaging 8. History of unprovoked seizures (i.e., seizures that occur in the absence of a clear provocation such as hyponatremia, hypoglycemia, etc.). 9. Subjects who have a first degree relative (e.g., father, mother or sibling) with a seizure disorder. 10. Subjects currently taking, or plan to take, medications which are highly epileptogenic. These include: clozapine, high doses of bupropion (i.e., greater than 400mg daily), diphenhydramine, cyclosporine, isoniazid, imipenem, chloroquine, tramadol and theophylline. 11. Subjects actively on anti-amyloid treatments. This is because they are at risk for bleeding due to amyloid-related imaging abnormalities (ARIA) that could provoke seizures.
Study sites (1)
MA
- Massachusetts General Hospital · Boston, MA 02129Alexandra Touroutoglou, PhD · Study contact · atouroutoglou@mgh.harvard.eduAlexandra Touroutoglou, PhD · Principal investigatorMore trials in Boston