Can sound, heat, and pressure rewire the depressed brain?
NCT ID NCT07800663
First seen Sep 02, 2026 · Last updated Sep 03, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
Researchers are testing whether a series of multisensory stimulation sessions can reduce depressive symptoms in adults with moderate-to-severe depression. Fifteen participants receive nine 20-minute sessions combining auditory, thermal, and pressure stimuli, calibrated to about 60% of each person's pain threshold. The team measures mood, rumination, and resilience before, during, and after the sessions. The goal is to see whether this bottom-up sensory approach offers a safe new way to ease depression.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- sensory hyperstimulation: nine 20-minute sessions combining auditory, thermal, and pressure stimuli calibrated to about 60% of each person's pain threshold
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could point toward a drug-free, side-effect-light option for people with depression who do not respond to standard treatments.
- What could go wrong
- This is a very small, early, open-label study with no placebo group, so results may not hold up in larger trials. The stimulation is set near pain thresholds, which may cause discomfort.
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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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15 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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Apr 2021
- Finished
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Apr 2021
- 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 80 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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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: * diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) according to DSM-5 * age ≥18 * baseline Hamilton Depression Rating Scale score (HAMD-17) \> 17. Exclusion Criteria: * Patients with Schizophrenia disorder and/or Active Psychosis. * Patients with serious physical morbidity (patents with unbalanced hypertension or diabetes). * Patients with ischemic heart disease. * Patients with chronic pain disorder or treatment regulary with pain killers (acamol etc) opioids or medical cannabis. * Active substance abuse (drugs or alcohol) two weeks before the study. * Sensory processing syndrome * Post traumatic stress disorder
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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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Tel-Aviv University
Tel Aviv, Israel
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Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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