Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for BECTS (TMS4BECTS)

August 29, 2025 updated by: Fiona Baumer, Stanford University

Impact of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) on Spike Frequency and Brain Connectivity in Children With Benign Epilepsy With Centrotemporal Spike (BECTS)

Benign epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (BECTS) is the most common pediatric epilepsy syndrome. Affected children typically have a mild seizure disorder, but yet have moderate difficulties with language, learning and attention that impact quality of life more than the seizures. Separate from the seizures, these children have very frequent abnormal activity in their brain known as interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs, or spikes), which physicians currently do not treat. These IEDs arise near the motor cortex, a region in the brain that controls movement.

In this study, the investigators will use a form of non-invasive brain stimulation called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to determine the impact of IEDs on brain regions important for language to investigate: (1) if treatment of IEDs could improve language; and (2) if brain stimulation may be a treatment option for children with epilepsy.

Participating children will wear electroencephalogram (EEG) caps to measure brain activity. The investigators will use TMS to stimulate the brain region where the IEDs originate to measure how this region is connected to other brain regions. Children will then receive a special form of TMS called repetitive TMS (rTMS) that briefly reduces brain excitability. The study will measure if IEDs decrease and if brain connectivity changes after rTMS is applied.

The investigators hypothesize that the IEDs cause language problems by increasing connectivity between the motor cortex and language regions. The investigators further hypothesize that rTMS will reduce the frequency of IEDs and also reduce connectivity between the motor and language region

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

22

Phase

  • 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
      • Palo Alto, California, United States, 94304
        • Stanford University School of Medicine

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

Ages Eligible for Study

5 years to 18 years (Child, Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • A diagnosis of Benign Epilepsy with Centrotemporal Spikes (BECTS), sometimes called Rolandic Epilepsy. Diagnosis will be based on a history of a focal motor seizure (affecting the face or causing hypersalivation) or a history of a seizure out of sleep AND an EEG with unilateral or bilateral centrotemporal spike waves.
  • English-speaking

Exclusion Criteria:

  • History of prematurity < 35 weeks gestational age;
  • History of serious neurologic problems (i.e. history of other seizure disorder other than simple febrile seizure, head trauma with prolonged loss of consciousness, cerebrovascular accident or neuro-inflammatory disease)
  • Focal deficits on neurologic exam
  • History of abnormal MRI (with clear gray or white matter abnormality)

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

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Children with BECTS
Children will receive sham and active rTMS on 2 separate study visits separated by at least 1 week.
Device: Active rTMS
1Hz rTMS delivered for 15-20 minutes
Device: Sham rTMS
sham rTMS delivered for 15-20 minutes

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Interictal Epileptiform Discharge (IED) Frequency
Time Frame: Before and after intervention (approximately 4 hours/visit on 2 study days one week apart)
We will count the number of IEDs/minute before and after application of active rTMS as well as before and after sham rTMS. We will compare the change in IEDs induced by the active and sham stimulation.
Before and after intervention (approximately 4 hours/visit on 2 study days one week apart)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Brain Connectivity
Time Frame: Before and after intervention (approximately 4 hours/visit on 2 study days one week apart)

We will measure brain connectivity before and after application of active rTMS as well as before and after sham rTMS. We will compare the change in connectivity induced by the active and sham stimulation. In particular, we will look at how connectivity changes between the motor cortex and language regions of the brain. We chose 3 regions of interest per hemisphere (-F: Frontal, -M: Motor, -T: Temporal). rTMS was applied to the hemisphere with more spikes on clinical EEG, and hence all regions were further qualified as being ipsilateral (i-) or contralateral (c-) to rTMS application.

Connectivity is measured in the weighted Phase Lag Index (wPLI) in the beta-frequency band, a phase-based connectivity measure which runs from a theoretical minimum of 0 (no connectivity) to 1 (complete connectivity).
Before and after intervention (approximately 4 hours/visit on 2 study days one week apart)

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Stanford University

Collaborators

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Fiona M Baumer, MD, Stanford University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

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)

October 28, 2020

Primary Completion (Actual)

March 3, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

March 3, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 25, 2020

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 25, 2020

First Posted (Actual)

March 27, 2020

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimated)

September 4, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 29, 2025

Last Verified

August 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 37514 (Stanford)
  • K23NS116110 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

No current plan.

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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