Network-targeted Theta-burst Stimulation for Episodic Memory Improvement in Mild Cognitive Impairment

August 5, 2026 updated by: Andrew F. Leuchter, University of California, Los Angeles
The purpose of this study is to see if stimulation of the brain can improve memory. The investigators will use a device called transcranial magnetic stimulation that can stimulate and activate a specific part of the brain that is important for memory. The study will enroll MCI subjects and subjects with subjective memory complaints who will be randomly assigned to receive active or sham brain stimulation. 'Blinded' or 'sham-controlled' means that the subject will not know whether the treatment they receive is the active treatment or the non-active stimulation. In the 'sham' condition, the stimulator will turn on but will not actually be stimulating the target brain region.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
70

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • California
      • Los Angeles, California, United States, 90024
        • University of California Los Angeles

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

55 years to 90 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Agreement to participate in the study
  • 55-100 years of age
  • Right-handedness
  • In good general health
  • Living independently
  • Subjective memory complaints (self-report and positive score on MFQ)
  • Katz ADL scale and Lawton iADL scale: We will review scores on a case-by-case basis if they did not score 100%. We will exclude if the scores show impairment in ADLs that suggests problems with independent functioning due to cognitive impairment.
  • MMSE score > 24
  • PHQ Depression score =< 7
  • Ability to read, write, and speak English fluently
  • Diagnosis of mild neurocognitive disorder according to DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) criteria. Participants with subjective memory complaints without an aMCI diagnosis will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis based on neuropsychological scores. Participants scoring a raw score of 0 or 3 standard deviations below normative expectations on the long delay recall in two or more of the three tasks (BVMT-R, RCFT, and CVLT-III) will be excluded.
  • No change in use of psychotropic medication for treatment of depression, anxiety, ADHS or psychosis 1 month prior and during the study.

Screening diagnostic criteria for aMCI will be subjective memory complaints, intact instrumental and basic activities of daily living (Smith et al., 1996), PHQ, MMSE, BVMT-R (25-minute delay), CVLT-II (20-minute delay), Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Task (30-minute delay). Baseline assessments will include neuropsychological testing of all study subjects.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Unwilling or unable to provide informed consent
  • Diagnosis of dementia
  • Active major medical, psychiatric, or neurologic disorder associated with neurocognitive impairment
  • History of alcohol or substance abuse
  • Recent (< 6 months) alcohol or substance abuse (excluding nicotine or caffeine)
  • History of stroke (if the stroke in our judgment is related to the memory problem), traumatic brain injury with loss of consciousness, or other neurologic disorder (e.g., epilepsy, Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease)
  • Non-English speaking participants
  • Not right handed based on self-report or evaluation based on a standard report
  • Has received TMS before (not TMS naïve)
  • Poorly controlled hypertension or cardiovascular disease
  • Current enrollment in a memory-enhancement study or course
  • Contraindication to TMS or MRI including claustrophobia, metal in body, surgery within 60 days, certain implants, or previous abnormal MRI results.
  • scanning facial tattoos is okay if safe with MRI

  • is taking:

    • anticholinergic medication (e.g., Detrol, Cogentin);
    • sedating antihistamine (e.g., Benadryl);
    • any drug that has significant anticholinergic or antihistaminic side effects (e.g., tricyclic antidepressant medications, Remeron).
    • benzodiazepines. While not a strict rule out, this will be decided on a case-by-case basis depending on the dose.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Active TBS
Theta burst stimulation (TBS) will be delivered at 100% of motor threshold (MT).
Device: Active Theta Burst Stimulation
Theta burst transcranial magnetic stimulation (TBS) will be delivered at 80-100% of motor threshold (MT).
Sham Comparator: Sham TBS
Sham stimulation will be delivered at 0% of motor threshold (MT), with all other parameters matching the active TBS condition.
Device: Sham Theta Burst Stimulation
Sham stimulation will be delivered at 0-10% of motor threshold (MT), with all other parameters matching the active TBS condition.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Verbal recall performance change
Time Frame: Baseline: Day 2; During stimulation: Day 3, Day 7, Day 12, Day 17; Follow-up appointments: Day 18, Day 19, Day 20.
Verbal memory will be measured using a free recall task where participants learn a list of everyday words and are asked to recall as many words as they can remember after a period of distraction. Proportion of recollected words will be used to quantify memory performance changes.
Baseline: Day 2; During stimulation: Day 3, Day 7, Day 12, Day 17; Follow-up appointments: Day 18, Day 19, Day 20.
Object recognition memory performance change
Time Frame: Baseline: Day 2; During stimulation: Day 3, Day 7, Day 12, Day 17; Follow-up appointments: Day 18, Day 19, Day 20.
Object memory will be measured using an recognition task where participants view photos of everyday objects and are asked to identify them as OLD or NEW during a memory test wherein unseen novel objects and very similar but new photos of identical objects are shown. Recollection and discrimination index will be used to quantify memory performance changes.
Baseline: Day 2; During stimulation: Day 3, Day 7, Day 12, Day 17; Follow-up appointments: Day 18, Day 19, Day 20.
Associative memory performance change
Time Frame: Baseline: Day 2; During stimulation: Day 3, Day 7, Day 12, Day 17; Follow-up appointments: Day 18, Day 19, Day 20.
Associative memory will be tested using the Face Name Memory Test wherein participants are shown faces and associated names. Participants are then shown faces only and asked to recall the associated name.
Baseline: Day 2; During stimulation: Day 3, Day 7, Day 12, Day 17; Follow-up appointments: Day 18, Day 19, Day 20.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Resting state fMRI functional connectivity
Time Frame: Baseline (Day 2) before the first treatment and after the last treatment (Day 17)
Resting state fMRI activity will be measured before the first and after the last TBS treatment
Baseline (Day 2) before the first treatment and after the last treatment (Day 17)
EEG activity
Time Frame: During treatment (Days 3, 7 and 12), after the last treatment (Day 17), and 2 month follow-up session (Day 20)
EEG functional connectivity with stimulated region and medial temporal source localized power in the theta band will be recorded during a resting period as well as during the treatment itself both before and after treatments
During treatment (Days 3, 7 and 12), after the last treatment (Day 17), and 2 month follow-up session (Day 20)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
University of California, Los Angeles

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
National Institute on Aging (NIA)

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Andrew Leuchter, MD, University of California, Los Angeles

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
January 26, 2021

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
November 30, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
November 30, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
September 4, 2020

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
September 15, 2020

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
September 22, 2020

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
August 10, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
August 5, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
August 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 20-001417
  • R01AG068317 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

The data collected for this research represent a valuable resource to the scientific community, and the PIs will make them accessible to others, while respecting the special needs for confidentiality. All data will be anonymized before being provided to the scientific community. Researchers can also request access to the data under collaborative and co-authorship agreements prior to the end of the funding period or before publication. The results from the proposed project will also be shared at scientific meetings (local, national and international) as well via published manuscripts.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

All data will be provided by the time publication occurs or when the proposed funding period has ended.

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

Researchers can request access to the data under collaborative and co-authorship agreements prior to the end of the funding period or before publication.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

Yes

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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