Scientists probe brain activity to map new depression treatments
NCT ID NCT05239780
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study aims to understand how the brain processes rewards in people with depression. Researchers will record brain activity from epilepsy patients who also have depression while they play a gambling task. The goal is to identify abnormal brain signals that could guide future electrical stimulation treatments for depression.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- electrical brain stimulation
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this could identify new brain targets for stimulation to treat depression.
- What could go wrong
- This is a very small, early study in epilepsy patients, not a treatment trial. It may not lead to a working therapy for depression.
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
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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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About 10 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Oct 2021
- Expected to finish
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Aug 2027
An estimate. End dates often move.
- 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.
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Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: \- The study will follow clinical criteria for epilepsy patient recruitment for invasive monitoring. As a results, individuals of adults of all ages are expected to be included in this study. Exclusion Criteria: * Adults over 80 years of age will be excluded as per concerns of cognitive decline. * Children under 18 will be excluded from the study since the maturation of frontal lobes continues through adolescence and significant differences in frontal lobe functioning between children younger than 18 and adults are often observed.
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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
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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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
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Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
RECRUITINGNew York, New York, 100119, United States
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
- Can lavender and lullabies help kids with epilepsy sleep better?
- Reading the Brain's signals to predict who benefits from deep brain stimulation
- Can a Comfort-Focused education program improve life with epilepsy?
- Can video games rewire young brains after injury?
- Can an antipsychotic restore feelings in people with depression?
- High-Fat Diet's effect on epilepsy: scientists track brain signals