Effect of rTMS of the Cerebellum on Parkinson's Disease

November 20, 2025 updated by: Pan Yang, Jiangsu Province Nanjing Brain Hospital

Effect of Low-frequency rTMS of the Cerebellum on Parkinson's Disease

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn about the efficacy of low-frequency rTMS of the cerebellum in Parkinson's disease.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The main question it aims to answer is: how to improve Parkinson's disease by rTMS.

Participants will be treated with active low-frequency rTMS/sham rTMS over the cerebellum and receive: 1) resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), 2) blood sampling, and 3) Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) before and after the treatment course.

Researchers will compare the data collected from fMRI scan, blood sample analysis, and UPDRS rating between the active rTMS group and sham controls before and after the treatment to see if there are meliorating effects of rTMS on Parkinson's disease.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

40

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

  • China
    • Jiangsu
      • Nanjing, Jiangsu, China, 210029
        • Nanjing Brain Hospital

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Diagnosed with Parkinson's disease according to the clinical diagnostic criteria for Parkinson's disease (2015 edition) by the Movement Disorder Society (MDS)
  2. Citizens of the People's Republic of China of either sex, aged between 40 and 80 years.
  3. Able to give informed consent and follow the research plan.
  4. Hoehn-Yahr (H-Y) stage ≤ 3
  5. Patients received a Parkinson's stable medication before treatment (assessed via self report), which continued during treatment.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. History or diagnosis of severe psychiatric disorders, such as depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia spectrum disorders, and bipolar disorders.
  2. Subjects with a clinically defined neurological disorder (assessed via self report) including, but not limited to: any condition likely to be associated with increased intracranial pressure, space occupying brain lesion, history of stroke, transient ischemic attack within two years, cerebral aneurysm, dementia, multiple sclerosis.
  3. Significant cognitive disorders (Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE)<24 points) or unable to complete the questionnaire independently.
  4. Intracranial implants, such as cochlear implants, aneurysms clips, shunts, stimulators, electrodes, cardiac pacemakers and vagus nerve stimulation devices.
  5. Increased risk of seizure for any reason, including prior diagnosis of increased intracranial pressure (such as after large infarctions or trauma), or currently taking medication that lowers the seizure threshold (assess via self report).
  6. Showed significant discomfort after receiving the rTMS treatment.
  7. Participated in other clinical trials.
  8. Inability to read or understand Chinese.

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: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Sham Comparator: sham stimulation targeting the cerebellum
Patients will be randomly allocated into this group, and they will receive sham stimulation.
Device: sham rTMS
The coil was held while disconnected from the stimulator, and rTMS noise was presented with computer loudspeakers with recorded sound from a real stimulation (20 minutes for each side of the lateral cerebellum everyday for 2 weeks).
Active Comparator: real rTMS targeting the cerebellum
Patients will be randomly allocated into this group, and they will receive real stimulation.
Device: active rTMS
Low-frequency (1 Hz) rTMS at with a stimulation intensity of 95% of the motor threshold will be delivered over the bilateral cerebellum for patients with Parkinson's disease (20 minutes for each side of the lateral cerebellum everyday for 2 weeks).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Changes of Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) (version 3.0) score by rTMS treatment
Time Frame: Baseline, 2 weeks, and 3 months after rTMS treatment
UPDRS score will be collected from each participants to measure the severity and progression of Parkinson's disease with scores ranging from 0 (minimum) to 199 (maximum). The higher scores mean a worse outcome.
Baseline, 2 weeks, and 3 months after rTMS treatment
Changes of brain plasticity by rTMS treatment
Time Frame: Baseline, 2 weeks, and 3 months after rTMS treatment
Resting state fMRI will be scanned from each participants, and brain activity as well as fuctional connectivity will be analyzed.
Baseline, 2 weeks, and 3 months after rTMS treatment
Changes of circulating serum level of inflammatory cytokines (e.g., Interleukin-1beta (IL-1β), Interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α)) by rTMS treatment
Time Frame: Baseline, 2 weeks, and 3 months after rTMS treatment
Blood samples will be collected from each participants, and serum levels of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α will be measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
Baseline, 2 weeks, and 3 months after rTMS treatment

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Jiangsu Province Nanjing Brain Hospital

Collaborators

Nanjing University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Yang Pan, M. D., Jiangsu Province Nanjing Brain Hospital

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)

May 10, 2023

Primary Completion (Actual)

October 21, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

November 21, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 24, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 6, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

May 9, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

November 24, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 20, 2025

Last Verified

November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • PDTMS

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

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.

Clinical Trials on Parkinson Disease

Clinical Trials on sham rTMS

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Montenegro

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

Subscribe