Can your heartbeat tell doctors how to treat depression?
NCT ID NCT06455527
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study tests whether heart rate data can help guide a non-invasive brain stimulation technique called tDCS for people with mild to moderate depression. One hundred participants will receive either real or sham tDCS at home over 10 sessions. Researchers will monitor heart rate to see if it can predict who responds best to the treatment.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this could lead to a more personalized, at-home brain stimulation treatment for depression that uses heart rate to guide therapy.
- What could go wrong
- This is an early-stage study focused on finding a biomarker, not on proving the treatment works. The sample size is small, and results may not apply to everyone with 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 100 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Jan 2025
- Expected to finish
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Nov 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 65 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: * Mild to moderate depression (Beck Depression Inventory(BDI)-II 14-28) * Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-V-TR) Depressive episode * Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT)-4th Reading Recognition subtest standard score \>85 Exclusion Criteria: * Primary neurologic, psychiatric (e.g., multiple sclerosis, stroke, Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injury, intracranial mass, traumatic brain injury (TBI), epilepsy, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), or dementia), or major medical disorder (e.g., history of myocardial infarction, diabetes, thyroid disease, arrhythmia, atrial fibrillation) (medical history review) * DSM-V-TR bipolar depression, psychotic disorder, or alcohol or substance use disorder (M.I.N.I.) * Active or high suicidality risk (Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale, C-SSRS), or otherwise judged as inappropriate by the study clinicians * History of a heart transplant, presence of permanent pacemaker implant or Left Ventricular Assist Device * Use of certain medications that can affect heart rate variability, such as beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers, or cardiac glycosides * Use of antidepressant, antipsychotic, anxiolytic, or stimulant medications * Pregnant or planning pregnancy during the study period * Seizure disorder or recent (\<5 years) seizure history * Presence of metal objects in the head/neck * Any skin disorder or skin sensitive area near stimulation locations
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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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NYU Langone Health
RECRUITINGNew York, New York, 10017, United States
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Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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- Can teachers and a phone app ease teen depression?
- Can imagining exercise boost brain power after spinal cord injury?
- Can an antipsychotic restore feelings in people with depression?
- Can a group program teach teens to cope before therapy starts?