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Developing Transcranial Neuromodulation Protocols for Learning and Decision-Making
Sponsor: National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Summary
Background: People with substance use disorder (SUD) often have changes in brain function that can make it difficult to control drug-seeking behavior. These changes may heighten the urge to use drugs or lessen the desire to seek nondrug-related rewards. Researchers want to know how a technique called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) may cause changes in brain activity that may help people with SUD. Objective: To test TMS in healthy volunteers. Eligibility: Healthy people aged 18 to 45 years who are right-handed. Design: Participants can volunteer for up to 5 different experiments. Each experiment requires 2 to 8 clinic visits. Each visit will last 3 to 7 hours. Some visits will include TMS. A coil will be placed on the participant s head. A brief electrical current will pass through the coil to create a magnetic field. Participants may feel a tapping or pulling sensation on the skin under the coil. They may feel a twitch in their face, neck, arm, or leg muscles. Participants may be asked to tense certain muscles during TMS. Some visits will include functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans. Participants will lie on a bed that slides into a large tube. They will perform tasks on a computer inside the tube. The fMRI will show which parts of the brain are used during each task. Participants will perform tasks on a computer. Some tasks may be done at a desk as well as during TMS and fMRI. Participants may look at images, listen to sounds, smell odors, or taste flavored liquids. Their vital signs may be monitored and their eye movements may be tracked during tasks.
Key Details
Gender
All
Age Range
18 Years - 45 Years
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Enrollment
600
Start Date
2026-04-14
Completion Date
2044-11-02
Last Updated
2026-04-09
Healthy Volunteers
No
Conditions
Interventions
continuous Theta Burst Stimulation (cTBS)
Continuous theta burst stimulation (three TMS pulses delivered at 50Hz with the bursts delivered at 5Hz for a total of 600 pulses per site).
intermittent Theta Burst Stimulation (iTBS)
Intermittent theta burst stimulation (three TMS pulses delivered at 50Hz with the bursts delivered at 5Hz for 2 seconds followed by a break of 8 seconds for a total of 600 pulses per site).
sham Theta Burst Stimulation (sham TBS)
iTBS or cTBS delivered with placebo side of A/P coil.
Locations (1)
National Institute on Drug Abuse
Baltimore, Maryland, United States