Zapping the brain to understand emotions: a first step
NCT ID NCT06607432
First seen Jun 24, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This study tests a new device called transcranial interference stimulation (tIS) in 10 healthy adults. The goal is to see if it is safe and can change brain activity related to recognizing emotions in faces. If it works, this approach might one day help people with conditions like schizophrenia.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- Transcranial Interference Stimulation (tIS) - a device that uses weak electrical fields to stimulate deep brain areas
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this could pave the way for future studies using tIS to treat social and emotional problems in disorders like schizophrenia.
- What could go wrong
- This is a very early, small safety study in only 10 healthy people. It is not designed to test effectiveness, and many such early studies do not lead to treatments.
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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Mar 2025
- Expected to finish
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Feb 2028
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 55 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: * Male or female * Age 18-55 years * Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) intelligence quotient (IQ) \>70 * Competent and willing to sign informed consent. * Shall not have been prescribed any standing medications for treatment of a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) Axis I psychiatric disorders within 90 days of the study and shall not have been prescribed standing opioid analgesic, anticonvulsant, antidementia, antidepressant, antimigraine, antipsychotic, anxiolytic, bipolar agents, central nervous system agents, or sedative/hypnotics within 90 days of the study even if for a non-psychiatric indication. Intermittent use of sedative/hypnotic medications is permitted, but these agents shall not be used within 48 hours of the tIS administration. * Healthy relative to age-dependent expectation as determined by medical history and physical examination within 90 days of enrollment. Exclusion Criteria: * Has a history of an illness, disease, condition injury, or disability which, in the opinion of the principal investigator (PI), may interfere with the completion of all study requirements per protocol, impact the quality of the data, or the validity of the study results. * Contraindication to MRI (e.g. metal implants, claustrophobia, pregnancy) * On the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) Screen Version-Recent, answers YES to Question 3 and NO to Question 6 (Moderate Risk) or answers YES to Question 4, 5, or 6 (High Risk). * Presence or positive history of significant medical illnesses, including high blood pressure(defined as systolic blood pressure (SBP) \>140 or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) \>90, low blood pressure (SBP \<100, DBP \<60), orthostatic blood pressure as baseline (change in mean arterial pressure \[1/3 systolic + 2/3 diastolic\] of \>20%), cardiac illness, or clinical significant abnormal electrocardiogram (EKG), as determined by the site physician * Women of childbearing potential who, at enrollment or during the study: * have a positive urine pregnancy test or a self-reported pregnancy; * are heterosexually active without usage of a medically acceptable, highly effective contraceptive method\* ( 1% pregnancy rate); or * are planning to become pregnant during the course of this study, as determined by the PI, are excluded from study participation. Examples include tubal ligation, vasectomized partner, intrauterine device (IUD) or intrauterine system (IUS), and longacting reversible contraceptives (LARC).
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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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Columbia University Irving Medical Center/NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital (CUIMC/NYPH)
RECRUITINGNew York, New York, 10032, United States
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