Can zapping your brain while you sleep and meditating make you think clearer and feel better?
NCT ID NCT06267521
First seen Jun 24, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This study tested whether gentle electrical brain stimulation during sleep, combined with daily meditation exercises, can improve how flexibly people think and how well they regulate their emotions. 64 healthy adults participated over up to 9 months. The goal was to see if these techniques, alone or together, could positively affect brain networks linked to thinking and mood.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- transcranial electrical stimulation with temporal interference (TES-TI) and meditation training via the Healthy Minds App
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this could point toward a non-drug approach to improve mental flexibility and emotional well-being.
- What could go wrong
- This is an early-phase study with only 64 participants, so results may not apply to the general population. The interventions are experimental and may not produce meaningful changes.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
-
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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64 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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Mar 2024
- Finished
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Apr 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 to 50 years
- 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 (Phase 1 and 2): * Medically healthy * English-speaking (able to provide consent and complete questionnaires) * Citizen or legal resident Exclusion Criteria (Phase 1): * Any current or recent history (6 months) of any mental health diagnosis (Examples include major depression, hypomania, psychosis, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder) * Any current or recent (past 6 months) history of treatment for mental illness (including anti-depressant/anti anxiety medications, therapy) * Scoring above Moderate range for Anxiety or Depression - Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) greater than or equal to 15 or General Anxiety Disorder (GAD7) greater than or equal to 15 * At risk for suicide (PHQ item 9 greater than 0) * Any current or past history of neurological disorders or acquired neurological disease (e.g. stroke, traumatic brain injury), including intracranial lesions and obstructive sleep apnea * History of head trauma resulting in prolonged loss of consciousness; or a history of greater than 3 grade I concussions * Current history of poorly controlled headaches including intractable or poorly controlled migraines * Any systemic illness or unstable medical condition that may cause a medical emergency in case of a provoked seizure (cardiac malformation, cardiac dysrhythmia, asthma, etc.) * History of fainting spells of unknown or undetermined etiology that might constitute seizures * History of seizures, diagnosis of epilepsy, history of abnormal (epileptiform) electroencephalogram, or family history of treatment resistant epilepsy with the exception of a single seizure of benign etiology (e.g. febrile seizures) in the judgment of a board-certified neurologist * Possible pregnancy or plan to become pregnant in the next 6 months. * Any metal in the brain, skull or elsewhere * Any hair braid, dreadlocks, hair pieces, or extensions which cannot be taken out before the MRI scans and/or sleep stimulation sessions * Any head coverings or headdress that participant feels uncomfortable removing for the purposes of the MRI scans and/or sleep stimulation sessions * Any medical devices or implants (i.e. cardiac pacemaker, medication infusion pump, cochlear implant, vagal nerve stimulator) unless otherwise approved by the responsible physician * Dental implants containing metal (titanium or titanium alloys) surgically implanted post and core * Substance use disorder within the past six months * Any medication that may alter seizure threshold i.e., Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) stimulants (Adderall, amphetamine); Tricyclic/atypical antidepressants (amitriptyline, doxepine, imipramine, maprotiline, nortriptyline, bupropion); Antipsychotics (chlorpromazine, clozapine), Bronchodilators (theophylline, aminophylline); Antibiotics (fluoroquinolones, imipenem, penicillin, cephalosporins, metronidazole, isoniazid); Antivirals (valacyclovir, ritonavir); Over the Counter (OTC) (diphenhydramine, Benadryl) * Claustrophobia (a fear of small or closed places) * Back problems that would prevent lying flat for up to two hours * Regular night-shift work (second or third shift) * Do not have access to a smartphone or the internet * Regular meditation practice and/or prior use of the Healthy Minds Program app * Cannot visit the lab in-person for 7 consecutive weeks in the next year * Permanent retainers Additional Exclusion Criteria (Phase 2): * Any current or recent history (6 months) of bipolar disorder, psychosis, schizophrenia. A history of stable depression or anxiety is not exclusionary. * Mental health treatment (e.g, psychotherapy) is no longer exclusionary, although all the medication exclusions outlined above still apply
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
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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Center for Healthy Minds
Madison, Wisconsin, 53703, United States
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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