Can a pill and brain zaps help you quit smoking for good?
NCT ID NCT07145866
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Sep 16, 2026 · Updated 4 times
Summary
This study tests whether adding accelerated transcranial magnetic stimulation (aTMS) to the standard smoking-cessation drug varenicline helps adults quit nicotine products like cigarettes and vapes. Thirty participants will take varenicline daily for 12 weeks and receive either real or sham aTMS over 5 consecutive days. Researchers will track abstinence through saliva tests and brain scans to see if the combination reduces cravings and improves quit rates.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- varenicline and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could point toward a more effective way to help people quit smoking or vaping by combining medication with brain stimulation.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small early-phase trial with only 30 people, so results may not apply to everyone. The TMS is given over just 5 days, and the sham group may also improve, making it hard to see a clear 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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Phase 4
Runs after approval, following long-term safety and how well the treatment works in everyday use.
- Participants
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About 30 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Jul 2026
- Expected to finish
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Dec 2028
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: * Age ≥ 18 and ≤65; * The ability to give written, informed consent; * Fluency in English; * Reported interest in quitting nicotine vaping or smoking within the next month; * Nicotine dependence, as defined by a score of ≥4 on the 10-question E-cigarette Dependence Inventory (ECDI) or Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND); * Smoke or vape nicotine daily for at least the past 90 days, as confirmed by self-report and timeline follow-back methods; * Saliva cotinine \>30ng/mL; Exclusion Criteria: * Pregnancy or breastfeeding; * Use of smoking cessation pharmacotherapy in the past month; * Unwilling to abstain during the study from using smoking cessation aids other than those provided by the study; * Prior adverse drug reaction to varenicline; * Contraindication to D-Cycloserine (including allergy to D-Cycloserine, significant renal impairment or known kidney disease, pregnancy) * Receiving or planning to receive other TMS treatments or investigational drugs during course of participation * Contraindications to TMS (including seizures, metallic implants, severe existing tinnitus, etc.); * Contraindications to MRI (including presence of a cardiac pacemaker or pacemaker wires, metallic particles in the body, vascular clips in the head or previous neurosurgery, prosthetic heart valves, claustrophobia); * Inpatient psychiatric hospitalization or suicide attempts in the past six months, or recent active suicidal ideation or suicidal behavior identified at enrollment or baseline visits; * History of seizures and/or history of TBI subtypes associated with elevated seizure risk (e.g. penetrating injury and intraparenchymal hemorrhage) * History of unstable neurological illness or major medical illness, such as epilepsy or renal impairment, in the past six months, unless clearly resolved; * In the opinion of the investigators, evidence of active problem substance use severe enough to compromise ability to safely participate; * In the opinion of the investigators, unable to safely participate in this study and/or provide reliable data (e.g., claustrophobia, unable to tolerate TMS or MRI procedures, etc.).
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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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Massachusetts General Hospital
RECRUITINGBoston, Massachusetts, 02114, United States
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