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Scientists zap brains to uncover Depression's Decision-Making secrets

NCT ID NCT04099056

What the study statuses mean

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Recruitment status, easiest to join first

Recruiting now This study
This trial is taking on new participants right now.
Not yet recruiting
Registered, but not yet taking participants.
By invitation only
Not open to general applications. Only people the study team invites can take part.
Paused
Paused for now. It may or may not start again.
Ongoing
Running, but no longer taking on new participants.
Completed
The trial has finished. Results may not be published yet.
Stopped early
Stopped early, before it reached the end. That can be for many reasons, including safety.
Cancelled
Cancelled before anyone took part.

Expanded access (not trials)

Expanded access
Not a trial. This treatment can be requested outside a study, case by case, for people who qualify.
Expanded access (paused)
Not a trial. The treatment can normally be requested outside a study, but is unavailable right now.
Expanded access (ended)
Not a trial. The treatment could once be requested outside a study, but no longer can.
Approved
The treatment has been approved, so it is available normally rather than through this programme.

When the status isn't known

Details not published
The full record has not been published yet, so there is little to show here.
Status unknown
This status has not been confirmed recently, so it may be out of date.

First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026

Summary

This study aims to understand how depression affects decision-making, especially when choices are difficult. Researchers will use brain stimulation techniques (TMS and TI) on 500 participants with depression and healthy controls while they perform game-like tasks. The goal is to learn which brain regions influence choice behavior, not to treat depression directly.

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 500 people

The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.

Started

Nov 2019

Expected to finish

Mar 2028

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 to 50 years

Sex

Anyone

Healthy volunteers

Accepted

You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.

Show 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: * Provides written informed consent * Fluent English speaker * Absence of current drug use as assessed by subject history and/or urine drug screen Exclusion Criteria: * Pregnant or currently breastfeeding women or any woman of childbearing potential who is seeking to become pregnant or suspects that she may be pregnant, as assessed by subject report and/or urine pregnancy screen * Contraindications to fMRI scanning (including presence of a cardiac pacemaker or pacemaker wires, metallic particles in the body, vascular clips in the head or previous neurosurgery, prosthetic heart valves, claustrophobia) as assessed with the standard MRI screening form from the Facility for Research and Education in Neuroscience (FERN) * Unable to fit comfortably in the scanner * Contraindication to TMS, including history or family history of epilepsy, metallic implants in the head and/or neck, brain stimulators, vagus nerve stimulators, ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt, pacemakers * Current use of medications that may increase the risk of seizures (e.g., bupropion, varenicline, chlorpromazine, theophylline) or reduce the effects of rTMS, such as benzodiazepines * History or current serious or unstable medical illness, including cardiovascular, hepatic, renal, respiratory, endocrine, neurologic, or hematologic disease, as assessed by subject history * Not right-handed as assessed by the Chapman handedness inventory or self-report * History of head injury resulting in more than a brief loss of consciousness, as assessed by subject history * History of cocaine or stimulant use (e.g., amphetamine, cocaine, methamphetamine), as assessed by subject history * History of use of dopaminergic drugs (including methylphenidate or other stimulant medication), as assessed by subject history * Current use or more than occasional use in the past year of tobacco products, including cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cigars, snuff, and chewing tobacco, or nicotine replacement products such as gum or patches, as assessed by subject history * Evidence of significant inconsistencies in self-report measures Additional Exclusion Criteria for Optional Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA)Component for Subject Safety * Anything above minimal risk for suicide, as assessed during the clinical interview (SCID) at screening and the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSR). C-SSRS risk will be assessed as any score \> 3. * Any physical or neuropsychiatric conditions that may worsen/or prevent walking or running. Additional Exclusion Criteria for Optional Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA)Component for Data Quality * Meet criteria for current psychotic disorders, bipolar disorders, or severe substance use disorders as assessed by the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview. * Used psychotropic medications within the last six weeks as assessed by subject history. Additional Exclusion Criteria for Participants with Major Depressive Disorder: * Anything above minimal risk for suicide, as assessed during the clinical interview (SCID) at screening and the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) * A symptom severity score of at least 11, as assessed by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)-II * History or current diagnosis of any of the following Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-IV psychiatric illnesses: * Organic mental disorder * Schizophrenia spectrum disorders * Delusional disorder * Psychotic disorders not otherwise specified * Patients with mood-congruent or mood-incongruent psychotic features * Patients with bipolar mood disorders * Substance dependence * Substance abuse within the last 12 months (except cocaine or stimulant abuse), which will lead to exclusion * Absence of any psychotropic medications for at least 2 weeks. No patient will be asked to discontinue or otherwise interrupt any psychotropic medications to participate in this study. The listed "washout" periods are only applicable for patients who previously used psychotropic medications, but recently decided to discontinue their use for some other reason. * 6 weeks for fluoxetine * 6 months for neuroleptics * 2 weeks for benzodiazepines * 2 weeks for any other antidepressants Additional Exclusion Criteria for Healthy Controls: * Any current or past history of any DSM-IV psychiatric illnesses, presence of a DSM-IV psychiatric disorder within a first-degree relative, or current or past use of psychotropic medications * Score no greater than 10 on the BDI-II * Score \> 1 on the SHAPS

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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.

How to take part

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  1. The places running it

    1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.

  2. The official record

    ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.

    Open the record ↗

  3. A doctor treating you

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Contacts and locations

Locations

  • Emory University

    RECRUITING

    Atlanta, Georgia, 30322, United States

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Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.