Can brain cell signals reveal the roots of social thinking?
NCT ID NCT05324579
First seen Aug 25, 2026 · Last updated Aug 26, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This study investigates how the dorsal prefrontal cortex, a brain region involved in higher-order thinking, supports social cognition. Researchers will record the activity of individual brain cells in 20 adults who are already undergoing brain surgery for clinical reasons, while they perform brief language-based social tasks. The goal is to identify which neurons respond to social versus non-social events and whether their activity can predict task outcomes. This is an observational study aimed at understanding the brain's social processing, not testing a treatment.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- Behavioral testing during neuronal recordings
- What this could lead to
- This could reveal how specific brain cells in the prefrontal cortex support social thinking, potentially guiding future treatments for social cognitive disorders.
- What could go wrong
- The study is small and observational, involving only 20 participants, and findings may not apply broadly. It does not test a treatment, so direct clinical benefits are uncertain.
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Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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20 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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May 2022
- Finished
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Aug 2026
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Accepted
You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: 1. 18 years old or older 2. patients able to give informed consent Exclusion Criteria: 1. Children under 18 2. Significant co-morbidities 3. Claustrophobia or general anxiety that may impact intraoperative testing 4. Use of CNS-active medications including stimulants and antipsychotics which may alter 5. Pregnancy 6. Operative events that will require expedition of the surgery. 7. Poor tolerance of testing by the patient 8. Increased abnormal cortical excitability 9. Necessity to administer drugs that will interfere with mapping
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As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, Massachusetts, 02114, United States
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Rhode Island Hospital
Providence, Rhode Island, 02903, United States
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