Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Treatment for Alzheimer's Disease

May 5, 2026 updated by: Alexandra Touroutoglou, Massachusetts General Hospital

Neuromodulation of Brain Function in Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias

In this research study we want to learn more about the effects of non-invasive brain stimulation on memory and brain-network function in cognitively unimpaired older adults and in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI).

This study will use a form of non-invasive brain stimulation called repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS). rTMS will slightly alter activity in an area of your brain that controls memory. Changes resulting from this stimulation will be measured with behavioral tests of memory and general cognition, as well as by taking images of your brain with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).

Participants will come in for one baseline visit followed by 10 days of daily rTMS study visits (Monday through Friday) and an evaluation visit. Then, there will be a 2-week break. After this break, they will return for another baseline visit, an additional 10 days of rTMS, and a final evaluation visit.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

30

Phase

  • Early Phase 1

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 Backup

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Massachusetts
      • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02129
        • Recruiting
        • Massachusetts General Hospital
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Alexandra Touroutoglou, PhD

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

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Between the ages of 40-99
  2. Native English speakers
  3. Willing and able to consent to the protocol and undergo imaging and neuropsychological testing at the specified time points
  4. Patients with PPA will be asked to bring a study partner to all visits
  5. Patients with very mild or mild PPA, patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment and cognitively unimpaired participants with preclinical AD will be included.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. History of head trauma involving loss of consciousness or alteration in consciousness
  2. Another major neurologic or psychiatric condition
  3. Known presence of a structural brain lesion (e.g. tumor, cortical infarct)
  4. Any contraindication to MRI, such as presence of pacemakers, aneurysm clips, artificial heart valves, ear implants, metal fragments, or foreign objects in the eyes, skin, or body
  5. Longstanding premorbid history (i.e. longer than 10 years) of alcohol or substance abuse with continuous abuse up to and including the time that the symptoms leading to clinical presentation developed
  6. Any significant systemic illness or unstable medical condition which could lead to difficulty complying with the study protocol.
  7. Unwilling to return for follow-up, undergo neuropsychological testing, TMS, and MR imaging
  8. History of unprovoked seizures (i.e., seizures that occur in the absence of a clear provocation such as hyponatremia, hypoglycemia, etc.).
  9. Subjects who have a first degree relative (e.g., father, mother or sibling) with a seizure disorder.
  10. Subjects currently taking, or plan to take, medications which are highly epileptogenic. These include: clozapine, high doses of bupropion (i.e., greater than 400mg daily), diphenhydramine, cyclosporine, isoniazid, imipenem, chloroquine, tramadol and theophylline.
  11. Subjects actively on anti-amyloid treatments. This is because they are at risk for bleeding due to amyloid-related imaging abnormalities (ARIA) that could provoke seizures.

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

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: AD, aMCI, lvPPA patients, and preclinical AD
All participants will receive the same study interventions in a within-subject crossover design.
Device: Active rTMS
All study participants will receive one block of ACTIVE rTMS. Each block will consist of daily sessions of active rTMS delivered to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex over ten days (Monday through Friday).
Device: Sham rTMS
All study participants will receive one block of SHAM rTMS. Each block will consist of daily sessions of SHAM rTMS delivered to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex over ten days (Monday through Friday).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Changes in Memory
Time Frame: Baseline and post-treatment Day 11
This will include observed changes in memory as a result of the stimulation through neuropsychological testing.
Baseline and post-treatment Day 11
Changes in Brain Network Connectivity
Time Frame: Baseline and post-treatment Day 11
This will include observed changes in resting-state functional connectivity as a result of the stimulation.
Baseline and post-treatment Day 11

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Massachusetts General Hospital

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)

May 1, 2023

Primary Completion (Estimated)

March 31, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

March 31, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 1, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 1, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

August 5, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 6, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 5, 2026

Last Verified

February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2022A002983

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

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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