Measuring rTMS-induced Neuroplasticity With EEG Steady-state Visual-evoked Potentials

June 3, 2026 updated by: University of California, San Francisco

Inducing and Measuring Visual-evoked Potential Plasticity in Humans With Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

The goals of this study are to 1) use EEG steady-state visual evoked potentials as a noninvasive measure of the neuroplasticity induced by repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), 2) use visual contrast detection paradigms as a behavioral measure of rTMS effects, and 3) to investigate how visual spatial attention augments or suppresses the neuroplastic impact of rTMS. Participants will observe visual stimuli on a screen while allocating their attention to different parts of the visual field and making responses when they observe changes in the visual stimuli. rTMS is performed to visual cortex using MRI-retinotopy neuronavigation. Then the visual task paradigm is performed again.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

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 (Actual)

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.
106

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 Locations

  • United States
    • California
      • Stanford, California, United States, 94306
        • Stanford University

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Men and women, ages 18 to 65
  • Must comprehend English well to ensure adequate comprehension of the EEG and TMS instructions, and of clinical scales
  • Left- or Right-handed
  • No current or history of neurological disorders
  • No seizure disorder or risk of seizures

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Those with a contraindication for MRIs (e.g. implanted metal)

    • Any unstable medical condition
    • History of head trauma with loss of consciousness
    • History of seizures
    • Neurological or uncontrolled medical disease
    • Active substance abuse
    • Diagnosis of psychotic or bipolar disorder
    • Currently taking medications that substantially reduce seizure threshold (e.g., bupropion, olanzapine, chlorpromazine, lithium)
    • Currently pregnant or breastfeeding

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: Basic Science
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover 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: Visual Cortex, 1 Hz rTMS, Attended
Device: repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation
Repetitive TMS targeted by neuronavigation to left lower visual field of primary visual cortex. Randomized to 10 Hz or 1 Hz on different treatment days. Stimulation at 110% of phosphene threshold, or 110% resting motor threshold if phosphenes not detectable. 1 Hz: 1000 pulses total over 1000 seconds. 10 Hz: 1000 pulses over 10 10 second pulse trains, with 50 second intertrain intervals
Experimental: Visual Cortex, 1 Hz rTMS, Unattended
Device: repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation
Repetitive TMS targeted by neuronavigation to left lower visual field of primary visual cortex. Randomized to 10 Hz or 1 Hz on different treatment days. Stimulation at 110% of phosphene threshold, or 110% resting motor threshold if phosphenes not detectable. 1 Hz: 1000 pulses total over 1000 seconds. 10 Hz: 1000 pulses over 10 10 second pulse trains, with 50 second intertrain intervals
Experimental: Visual Cortex, 10 Hz rTMS, Attended
Device: repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation
Repetitive TMS targeted by neuronavigation to left lower visual field of primary visual cortex. Randomized to 10 Hz or 1 Hz on different treatment days. Stimulation at 110% of phosphene threshold, or 110% resting motor threshold if phosphenes not detectable. 1 Hz: 1000 pulses total over 1000 seconds. 10 Hz: 1000 pulses over 10 10 second pulse trains, with 50 second intertrain intervals
Experimental: Visual Cortex, 10 Hz rTMS, Unattended
Device: repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation
Repetitive TMS targeted by neuronavigation to left lower visual field of primary visual cortex. Randomized to 10 Hz or 1 Hz on different treatment days. Stimulation at 110% of phosphene threshold, or 110% resting motor threshold if phosphenes not detectable. 1 Hz: 1000 pulses total over 1000 seconds. 10 Hz: 1000 pulses over 10 10 second pulse trains, with 50 second intertrain intervals
Sham Comparator: Visual Cortex, Sham, Attended
Device: repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation
Repetitive TMS targeted by neuronavigation to left lower visual field of primary visual cortex. Randomized to 10 Hz or 1 Hz on different treatment days. Stimulation at 110% of phosphene threshold, or 110% resting motor threshold if phosphenes not detectable. 1 Hz: 1000 pulses total over 1000 seconds. 10 Hz: 1000 pulses over 10 10 second pulse trains, with 50 second intertrain intervals
Sham Comparator: Visual Cortex, Sham, Unattended
Device: repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation
Repetitive TMS targeted by neuronavigation to left lower visual field of primary visual cortex. Randomized to 10 Hz or 1 Hz on different treatment days. Stimulation at 110% of phosphene threshold, or 110% resting motor threshold if phosphenes not detectable. 1 Hz: 1000 pulses total over 1000 seconds. 10 Hz: 1000 pulses over 10 10 second pulse trains, with 50 second intertrain intervals

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
post-rTMS change in ssVEP Response Amplitude
Time Frame: 60 minutes
Change in ssVEP contrast-response amplitude after rTMS
60 minutes
post-rTMS change in visual contrast perceptual sensitivity
Time Frame: 60 minutes
change in visual psychometric threshold across contrasts after rTMS
60 minutes

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, San Francisco

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 Eye Institute (NEI)

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: Ryan Ash, MD, PhD, University of California, San Francisco

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.
July 1, 2023

Primary Completion (Actual)

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.
June 2, 2026

Study Completion (Actual)

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.
June 2, 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).
May 2, 2023

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.
May 2, 2023

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.
May 11, 2023

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.
June 5, 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.
June 3, 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.
June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

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.
  • 25-44827
  • 5K08EY035037-03 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

The results of this research will be made available via publication in scientific journals and through scientific meetings where our findings are reported. Publication of data shall occur during the project, if appropriate, or at the end of the project, consistent with normal scientific practices. All publications will be made publicly available consistent with NIH policies. Research data, which documents, supports and validates research findings, will be made available after the main findings from the final research data set have been accepted for publication.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

Data will be available on reasonable request following completion of data collection.

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

see above

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL
  • ANALYTIC_CODE

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

Yes

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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