Accelerated TMS for Apathy in PD

March 23, 2026 updated by: Daniel Lench, Medical University of South Carolina

Accelerated Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) for Apathy in Parkinson's Disease

This single-site, open-label pilot study will evaluate the feasibility, tolerability, and preliminary efficacy of accelerated intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS) targeting the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) for apathy in individuals with Parkinson's Disease (PD). Fifteen participants with PD and clinically significant apathy will undergo six treatment visits over two weeks, receiving eight iTBS sessions per day. Outcomes include adherence, tolerability, changes in apathy (Lille Apathy Rating Scale), functional engagement, and neural target engagement assessed via resting-state fMRI and EEG. Follow-up assessments will occur at two and four weeks post-treatment.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This study is designed to explore a new treatment option for people with Parkinson's disease who experience apathy, which means loss of motivation or interest in daily activities. Apathy is common in Parkinson's disease and can lower quality of life, but current treatments are limited. Investigators are testing whether a non-invasive brain stimulation technique called repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is tolerable, acceptable and can be used to improve apathy in patients with Parkinson's disease. TMS delivers brief magnetic pulses to specific areas of the brain that are linked to motivation and decision-making. In this study, Investigators will use an "accelerated" version of TMS, which gives several short sessions in a single day, reducing the number of visits required. The purpose of this research is to see whether this treatment approach is feasible, tolerable and and potentially effective at treating apathy in people with Parkinson's disease. If successful, this research study will hopefully lead to a larger study in the future where the efficacy of the treatments can be studied.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

15

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
    • South Carolina
      • Charleston, South Carolina, United States, 29425
        • Recruiting
        • Medical University of South Carolina
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Daniel Lench, PhD
        • Contact:
          • Emily Laramie Study Coordinator
          • Phone Number: +18437923873
          • Email: laramie@musc.edu

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:

  • Age 45-85
  • Diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease
  • AES ≥37
  • Stable PD medications
  • Caregiver informant available

Exclusion Criteria:

  • MRI/TMS contraindications
  • Severe cognitive impairment (MoCA <21)
  • Psychiatric disorders (bipolar, schizophrenia, active substance use disorder)
  • Seizure history
  • Acute suicidality as assessed by the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) or suicide attempt in the previous year
  • Pregnancy

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
Intervention / Treatment
Other: TMS group
participants with Parkinson's disease and clinically significant apathy receive accelerated iTBS rTMS targeting the left dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) using a MagVenture MagPro system with a cooled figure-of-eight coil and Brainsight neuronavigation (slightly off midline). Resting motor threshold (rMT) is determined on the first stimulation visit (PEST) and stimulation is delivered at 120% rMT. Treatment occurs on 6 days over ~2 weeks (days may be non-contiguous), with 8 sessions/day separated by 10-15 min. Each session delivers 600 pulses (50 Hz triplets; 2 s on/8 s off; ~190 s), totaling 4,800 pulses/day and 28,800 pulses overall. Coil position/angle and scalp-to-cortex distance are tracked; tolerability/acceptability (headache, pain, scalp irritation, facial twitching, fatigue, fear/anxiety) is assessed before/after sessions.
Device: Accelerated intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS) rTMS to left dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC)
Accelerated intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS) rTMS to left dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) (MagVenture MagPro with cooled figure-of-eight coil; Brainsight neuronavigation; 120% rMT; 6 treatment days over ~2 weeks; 8 sessions/day; 600 pulses/session; 10-15 min inter-session interval).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
TMS adherence
Time Frame: Day 1 through Day 14 (6 treatment days over approximately 2 weeks)
Proportion of planned accelerated iTBS sessions completed. Adherence is calculated as number of iTBS sessions completed out of 48 scheduled sessions (6 treatment days × 8 sessions/day).
Day 1 through Day 14 (6 treatment days over approximately 2 weeks)
Target engagement (dmPFC network modulation)
Time Frame: Baseline MRI/EEG assessments (Days 0-1) and post-treatment MRI/EEG assessments (Days 14-15)
Change in dmPFC target engagement measured by (1) resting-state fMRI functional connectivity of dmPFC to motivation/effort-related nodes and (2) EEG waveform/response metrics during motivation/effort tasks, comparing pre- vs post-intervention.
Baseline MRI/EEG assessments (Days 0-1) and post-treatment MRI/EEG assessments (Days 14-15)
Frequency and Severity of TMS-Induced Side effects (TMS tolerability and acceptability)
Time Frame: Measured during each treatment day (6 days within a 2-week period)
Participant-reported tolerability/acceptability assessed with a standardized questionnaire capturing frequency and severity of common TMS side effects (e.g., headache, pain, scalp irritation, facial twitching, fatigue, fear/anxiety), collected during treatment days (pre/post sessions).
Measured during each treatment day (6 days within a 2-week period)
Apathy severity as measured by the Lille Apathy Rating Scale
Time Frame: Baseline (Day 0), immediately post-treatment (Day 14), 2 weeks post-treatment, and 4 weeks post-treatment
Change in apathy measured by the Lille Apathy Rating Scale (LARS) patient and caregiver/informant versions; analyzed as change from baseline to post-treatment and follow-up timepoints. Possible scores range from -36 to 36 with higher scores indicating greater apathy.
Baseline (Day 0), immediately post-treatment (Day 14), 2 weeks post-treatment, and 4 weeks post-treatment

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Goal attainment
Time Frame: Baseline (Day 0), immediately post-treatment (Day 14), 2 weeks post-treatment, and 4 weeks post-treatment
Change in goal-directed behavior measured by Bangor Goal-Setting Interview outcomes, including proportion/percent attainment of individualized goals across assessment timepoints.
Baseline (Day 0), immediately post-treatment (Day 14), 2 weeks post-treatment, and 4 weeks post-treatment
Change in apathy as measured by the Dimensional Apathy Scale
Time Frame: Baseline (Day 0), immediately post-treatment (Day 14), 2 weeks post-treatment, and 4 weeks post-treatment"
Change in apathy-related symptoms measured using the Dimensional Apathy Scale (DAS), including patient/informant reports where applicable. Scores range from 0-24 on each of the three subscales (executive, emotional, and behavior/ cognitive initiation) with higher scores indicating greater apathy.
Baseline (Day 0), immediately post-treatment (Day 14), 2 weeks post-treatment, and 4 weeks post-treatment"
Change in apathy-related behavior as measured by the Frontal Systems Behavior Scale
Time Frame: Baseline (Day 0), immediately post-treatment (Day 14), 2 weeks post-treatment, and 4 weeks post-treatment"
Change in apathy-related symptoms measured using the Frontal Systems Behavior Scale (FRSBE), including patient/informant reports where applicable. Apathy components include 14 questions scored 0-4 for a range of scores 0-56 with higher scores indicating greater apathy.
Baseline (Day 0), immediately post-treatment (Day 14), 2 weeks post-treatment, and 4 weeks post-treatment"

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Medical University of South Carolina

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Daniel Lench, Medical University of South Carolina

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 (Estimated)

June 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

March 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

March 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 7, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 2, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

February 10, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 27, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 23, 2026

Last Verified

March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Pro00147039

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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