Brain zapping gets personal: new hope for Treatment-Resistant depression?
NCT ID NCT05842291
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study tests a personalized form of brain stimulation (rTMS) for people with depression that hasn't improved with standard treatments. Sixty participants will receive either real or sham stimulation over five days, with up to ten sessions per day. The goal is to see if targeting specific brain areas based on each person's brain activity can safely reduce depression symptoms.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) using personalized brain targets
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could offer a new, non-drug option for people with depression that hasn't responded to other treatments.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small, early-stage trial that is currently suspended. The effect may be small or no better than sham, and results may not apply to all patients.
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 60 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Jun 2023
- Expected to finish
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Jul 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 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: * Hospitalized/outpatient patients aged 18-65 years (inclusive), male or female. * Meet the diagnostic criteria of DSM-5(Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition) for the depression disorder without psychotic symptoms, and currently experiencing the first episode or recurrence episode. * Total HAMD17 score ≥18 before randomization. * Total MADRS score ≥20 before randomization. * A stable or no-drug use for at least 4 weeks before randomization. The type and dose of the antidepressant regimen remained unchanged throughout the study. * No response (symptom improvement≥50%) in previous treatments with at least two antidepressants for a full dose and full course. * Voluntarily participate in the trial and sign informed consent. Able to comply with the planned visit, examination and treatment plan, and other study procedures. Exclusion Criteria: * Meet DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for other mental disorders (e.g., schizophrenia spectrum disorders, bipolar and related disorders, anxiety disorders, compulsion, and related disorders, trauma and stress-related disorders, etc.), or secondary depression; * Patients with a cardiac pacemaker, cochlear implant, or other metal foreign body and any electronic equipment implanted in the body, patients with claustrophobia and other contraindications to magnetic resonance scanning, and patients with contraindications to rTMS treatment; * Patients with serious or unstable diseases of the cardiovascular, liver, kidney, blood, endocrine, neurological system, and other systems or organs, especially those with organic brain diseases (such as ischemic stroke, cerebral hemorrhage, brain tumor, etc.) and a history of severe brain trauma as judged by the researcher; * History of epilepsy (presence of at least 2 uninduced seizures more than 24 hours apart, or diagnosis of the epileptic syndrome, or seizures within the past 12 months); Or currently received medications or other treatments that will lower the seizure threshold; * History of ECT, rTMS, VNS, DBS, tDCS, light therapy, or other physical therapy related to mental illness within 3 months; * Currently receiving or planning to start formal cognitive or behavioral therapy, or systemic psychological therapy (interpersonal therapy, dynamic therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, etc.) during the trial. * Substance abuse or dependence (including alcohol, drugs, and other psychoactive substances) in the past 1 year; * Female of childbearing potential who plans to become pregnant during the trial. * Female that is pregnant or breastfeeding. * Patients in any clinical trials of other drugs or physical therapy within 1 month before the screening. * Investigators think that was inappropriate to participate.
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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
The full official record for this study. This one lists no contact details, but it is the first place any would appear.
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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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Beijing HuiLongGuan Hospital
Beijing, Beijing Municipality, 100096, China
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