Zapping the brain to boost navigation skills after injury
NCT ID NCT07271524
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study tests whether gentle, non-invasive brain stimulation can help people with traumatic brain injury (TBI) remember locations better. Participants will use a virtual reality game to find objects while their brain is stimulated or not. The goal is to see if stimulation improves memory and to understand how the brain changes after injury.
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
-
About 25 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Expected to start
-
Dec 2025
An estimate. Start dates often move.
- Expected to finish
-
Dec 2027
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
-
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
-
18 years and older
- Sex
-
Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
-
Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
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: * Age ≥ 18 years * Clinical diagnosis of TBI * No history of other severe neurological or psychiatric disorders Exclusion Criteria: * Unable to consent * Severe neuropsychiatric (e.g., major depression, severe dementia) or unstable systemic diseases (e.g., severe progressive and unstable cancer, life threatening infectious diseases) * Severe sensory or cognitive impairment or musculoskeletal dysfunctions prohibiting to understand instructions or to perform the experimental tasks * Inability to follow or non-compliance with the procedures of the study * Contraindications for NIBS or MRI: * Electronic or ferromagnetic medical implants/device, non-MRI compatible metal implant * History of seizures * Medication that significantly interacts with NIBS being benzodiazepines, tricyclic antidepressants and antipsychotics * Regular use of narcotic drugs * Pregnancy * Request of not being informed in case of incidental findings * Concomitant participation in another trial involving probing of neuronal plasticity
Get updates
Get notified about this study
Sign up to get updates when this study changes or when new studies for Traumatic brain injury are added.
By submitting, you agree to our Terms of use
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.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
-
The places running it
2 sites. The list below names each one and where it is.
-
The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
-
A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
-
EPFL Valais, Clinique Romande de readaptation
Sion, Valais, 1950, Switzerland
-
EPFL, Campus Biotech
Geneva, Canton of Geneva, 1202, Switzerland
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
- Machine learning may forecast brain decline after head injury
- MRI tracer could expose hidden brain energy crisis after head injury
- Blood and brain scans may expose invisible injury after head trauma
- Can a handheld scanner find brain bleeds faster on the battlefield?
- A quick eye ultrasound might spot brain pressure without a CT scan
- A new approach to taming Post-TBI fatigue: can group therapy delivered online make a difference?