Placebo brain zaps: can belief alone change your mood?
NCT ID NCT07397858
First seen Feb 12, 2026 · Last updated Jun 19, 2026 · Updated 19 times
Summary
This study is testing whether people's expectations about a treatment can influence their mood, motivation, and reactions to rewards. Healthy volunteers aged 15-25 will receive a sham (fake) version of accelerated transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) — no actual brain stimulation is given. Researchers will measure changes in treatment beliefs, reward sensitivity, and cravings over five weeks to understand the power of placebo effects.
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This is a summary of
the original study
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Summaries may miss details or leave out important information. Before applying or accepting participation, make sure you have read and understood the full study. Curemydisease.com takes no responsibility whatsoever for anything missed, misunderstood, or acted upon as a result of our summary — we know it does not capture everything.
This is a summary of the original study . Summaries may miss details or leave out important information. Before applying or accepting participation, make sure you have read and understood the full study. Curemydisease.com takes no responsibility whatsoever for anything missed, misunderstood, or acted upon as a result of our summary — we know it does not capture everything.
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Contacts and locations
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Locations
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UC Davis Medical Center
RECRUITINGSacramento, California, 95817, United States
Contact Phone: •••-•••-•••• Email: •••••@•••••
Contact Phone: •••-•••-•••• Email: •••••@•••••
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only — not medical advice or a prediction.
Active substance
Sham transcranial magnetic stimulation (no active stimulation)
What this could lead to
If successful, this could help researchers understand how placebo effects influence mood and motivation, potentially improving future treatment designs.
What could go wrong
This is a small, early-stage study in healthy volunteers, so results may not apply to clinical populations. The sham intervention means no direct therapeutic benefit is expected.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.