Brain zaps for depression in schizophrenia: new trial underway
NCT ID NCT07060066
First seen Jun 24, 2026 · Last updated Aug 06, 2026 · Updated 3 times
Summary
This study tests whether a brain stimulation technique called repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) can help ease depression in people with schizophrenia. Researchers will give up to 20 sessions of active or sham rTMS to 120 participants and use brain scans to see how it affects brain connections. The goal is to find a safe, effective way to treat depressive symptoms in this group.
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 an H-coil device
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this could provide a new, non-drug treatment option for depression in people with schizophrenia.
- What could go wrong
- This is an early-stage study with no phase designation, so results are uncertain. The treatment is experimental and may not work for everyone.
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 120 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Oct 2025
- Expected to finish
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Jun 2030
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 60 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.
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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: * Male and female ages between ages 18-60 years. * Ability to give written informed consent (age 18 or above). * Diagnosed with schizophrenia-spectrum disorder and Evaluation to Sign Consent (ESC) above 10. * Score of Calgary depression scale for schizophrenia (CDSS) ≥ 3. Exclusion Criteria: * Inability to sign informed consent. * Any major medical illnesses that may affect normal brain functioning. Examples of these conditions include, but are not limited to: stroke, repeated seizure, history of significant head trauma with cognitive sequela, CNS infection or tumor, other significant brain neurological conditions. * Significant alcohol or other drug use other than nicotine or marijuana dependence. * Inability to refrain from using alcohol and/or marijuana 24 hours or more prior to experiments. * Pregnancy, as classified by a woman of child-bearing potential who is not using a contraceptive and has missed a menstrual period; or by self-report; or by positive urine pregnancy test. * For MRI, inability to participate in the MRI scanning due to metallic devices or objects (cardiac pacemaker or neurostimulator, some artificial joints, metal pins, surgical clips or other implanted metal parts) or declining to get in the scanner. * Failed TMS safety questionnaire.
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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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The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
RECRUITINGHouston, Texas, 77030, United States
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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- New schizophrenia drug targets brain glutamate, not dopamine
- New drug candidate takes aim at schizophrenia symptoms
- New schizophrenia drug goes Head-to-Head with standard antipsychotics in Long-Term trial
- Five-Year safety check for experimental schizophrenia drug
- A shot every few weeks? new drug tested for schizophrenia