pBFS Guided Neuromodulation Over DMPFC for ASD Treatment: Pilot Study

March 31, 2026 updated by: Changping Laboratory

Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Guided by Personalized Brain Functional Sectors (pBFS) for Comorbid Autism Spectrum Disorder and Language Delay: an One-arm Pilot Study

This study will evaluate the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of pBFS-guided TMS treatment at DMPFC in autism spectrum disorder comorbid with language delay.

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.

Detailed Description

Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired social communication and repetitive behaviors, often co-occurring with language delay. Using the personalized Brain Functional Sectors (pBFS) technique, investigators could precisely identify individualized brain areas underlying language and social communication a based on the resting-state functional MRI data. The tailored TMS intervention target to language and default mode network which located in the left dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC) will be selected for each participant.

The participants will receive active iTBS to the language network 5 days per week for 12 weeks. Functional MRI data will be collected pre-and post-treatment under sedation. Three behavioral evaluations will be taken pre-treatment, after 8-weeks treatment and after 12-weeks treatment.

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.
22

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

  • China
      • Beijing, China
        • China Rehabilitation Research Center

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

  • Child
  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 6-30 years old
  • Have the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder
  • ADOS-2 score is higher than the ASD cut-offs
  • Have language development delay (the WISC-4 Verbal Comprehension Index lower than 70)
  • Capacity to follow the study procedures, including fMRI scan under sedation, assessment, and rehabilitation training
  • Participant's parents or other legal guardians give informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Current or history of psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder
  • Severe self-injury or suicidal behavior presented in the last 1 year
  • Severe visual, auditory, or motor disability that interferes with any study procedure
  • Current, history or family history of epilepsy
  • Known severe physical diseases, such as congenital heart defect, traumatic brain injury
  • Metal implantations, which are contradicted by MRI or TMS, such as artificial cardiac pacemakers, stents, cochlear implants
  • Received TMS, tCS, FUS, or other neuromodulation treatment in the last 3 months
  • Currently participating in other clinical trials

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: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

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 iTBS group
Active iTBS will be delivered to the tailored DMPFC target.
Device: active iTBS
Each participant will receive 1800 pulse active iTBS (100% RMT) in each session, 3 sessions per day, 5 days per week for 8 weeks.

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
Language score change
Time Frame: Pre-treatment (baseline), after 8 weeks treatment, immediately post-treatment
The score change of vocabulary acquisition scales (VAS) from the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, Fourth Edition (WPPSI-IV) from baseline. Higher scores mean a better outcome.
Pre-treatment (baseline), after 8 weeks treatment, immediately post-treatment
ADOS-2 SA score change
Time Frame: Pre-treatment (baseline), after 8 weeks treatment, immediately post-treatment
The social affect dimension score change of autism diagnostic observation scale, 2nd edition (ADOS-2) from baseline. Higher scores mean a worse outcome.
Pre-treatment (baseline), after 8 weeks treatment, immediately post-treatment

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
Receptive vocabulary score change
Time Frame: Pre-treatment (baseline), after 8 weeks treatment, immediately post-treatment
The score change of receptive vocabulary (pointing) from the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, Fourth Edition (WPPSI-IV) from baseline. Higher scores mean a better outcome.
Pre-treatment (baseline), after 8 weeks treatment, immediately post-treatment
Expressive language score change
Time Frame: Pre-treatment (baseline), after 8 weeks treatment, immediately post-treatment
The score change of picture naming (naming) from the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, Fourth Edition (WPPSI-IV) from baseline. Higher scores mean a better outcome.
Pre-treatment (baseline), after 8 weeks treatment, immediately post-treatment
SCQ S score change
Time Frame: Pre-treatment (baseline), after 8 weeks treatment, immediately post-treatment
The social dimension score change of the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) from baseline. Higher scores mean a worse outcome.
Pre-treatment (baseline), after 8 weeks treatment, immediately post-treatment
SCQ C score change
Time Frame: Pre-treatment (baseline), after 8 weeks treatment, immediately post-treatment
The communication dimension score change of the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) from baseline. Higher scores mean a worse outcome.
Pre-treatment (baseline), after 8 weeks treatment, immediately post-treatment

Other Outcome Measures

Other Outcome Measures

For clinical trials, a planned measurement described in the protocol that is used to determine the effect of an intervention/treatment on participants. For observational studies, a measurement or observation that is used to describe patterns of diseases or traits, or associations with exposures, risk factors, or treatment. Types of outcome measures include primary outcome measure and secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
ADOS-2 total score change
Time Frame: Pre-treatment (baseline), after 8 weeks treatment, immediately post-treatment
The total score change of autism diagnostic observation scale, 2nd edition (ADOS-2) from baseline. Higher scores mean a worse outcome.
Pre-treatment (baseline), after 8 weeks treatment, immediately post-treatment
ADOS-2 RRB score change
Time Frame: Pre-treatment (baseline), after 8 weeks treatment, immediately post-treatment
The restricted and repetitive behavior score change of autism diagnostic observation scale, 2nd edition (ADOS-2) from baseline. Higher scores mean a worse outcome.
Pre-treatment (baseline), after 8 weeks treatment, immediately post-treatment
SCQ total score change
Time Frame: Pre-treatment (baseline), after 8 weeks treatment, immediately post-treatment
The total score change of the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) from baseline. Higher scores mean a worse outcome.
Pre-treatment (baseline), after 8 weeks treatment, immediately post-treatment
SCQ R score change
Time Frame: Pre-treatment (baseline), after 8 weeks treatment, immediately post-treatment
The RRB dimension score change of the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) from baseline. Higher scores mean a worse outcome.
Pre-treatment (baseline), after 8 weeks treatment, immediately post-treatment
CBCL score change
Time Frame: Pre-treatment (baseline), after 8 weeks treatment, immediately post-treatment
Score change of the child behavior checklist (CBCL) from baseline. Higher scores mean a worse outcome. Higher scores mean a worse outcome.
Pre-treatment (baseline), after 8 weeks treatment, immediately post-treatment

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.
Changping Laboratory

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.
Henan Provincial People's Hospital
China Rehabilitation Research Center

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.
March 10, 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.
February 27, 2024

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.
May 1, 2024

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).
March 31, 2026

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.
March 31, 2026

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.
April 7, 2026

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.
April 7, 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.
March 31, 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.
March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

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.
  • CPASD1armDM20

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

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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