Brain training before tumor surgery may shield language, early study suggests
NCT ID NCT07488780
First seen Jun 24, 2026 · Last updated Jul 22, 2026 · Updated 3 times
Summary
This study tests whether real-time fMRI neurofeedback can help people with brain tumors (gliomas) shift language activity away from the tumor area before surgery. Only 4 participants will be enrolled to see if the approach is feasible, safe, and acceptable. It is a very early, small study focused on gathering data, not on proving a treatment works.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- fMRI neurofeedback (device)
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could point toward a way to preserve language function during brain tumor surgery.
- What could go wrong
- This is a very early, tiny study with only 4 participants, focused on feasibility—not on proving the treatment works. The approach may not translate to real surgical benefit.
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 4 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Expected to start
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Aug 2026
An estimate. Start dates often move.
- Expected to finish
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Dec 2026
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 years and older
- 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: * Provision of signed and dated informed consent form * Stated willingness to comply with all study procedures and availability for the duration of the study * Diagnosis of WHO grade II-III glioma involving eloquent language cortex * Scheduled for surgical resection * MRI-compatible * Ability to perform the simple language tasks required for fMRI and neurofeedback * Residence within 2 hours of Yale MRRC and ability and willingness to make multiple visits for study participation Exclusion Criteria: * Severe baseline aphasia precluding task performance * Contraindications to MRI * Significant cognitive/psychiatric comorbidity limiting compliance * Concurrent enrollment in other interventional trials * Claustrophobia of a degree that they cannot comfortably be scanned * Inability or unwillingness to understand or follow the instructions * Pregnancy or possible pregnancy
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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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Yale School of Medicine
New Haven, Connecticut, 06520, United States
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Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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