TIS for Improving Cognitive Impairment Associated With Schizophrenia

March 12, 2026 updated by: Renrong Wu, Central South University

Efficacy and Safety of Time Interference Stimulation on Cognitive Impairment Associated With Schizophrenia

This study aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of TIS targeting the hippocampus in ameliorating cognitive impairment associated with schizophrenia (CIAS). Participants will receive TIS twice a day for 2 weeks. Their clinical data, including the baseline clinical symptom scale score, cognitive function, and MRI data, will be collected at baseline and at the end of the 2-week intervention.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Cognitive impairment associated with schizophrenia (CIAS) remains a therapeutic challenge, as conventional antipsychotics and depth-limited neurostimulation (NIBS) fail to address the subcortical dysregulation that drives cognitive dysfunction. Temporal Interference Stimulation (TIS) overcomes these biophysical limitations by using intersecting high-frequency electric fields to non-invasively target deep structures such as the hippocampus with great spatial accuracy. Due to its potential to enhance the synchronization between the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex, TIS offers a new prospect for treating CIAS.

This single-arm, open-label trial will evaluate the efficacy of hippocampal-targeted TIS in patients with schizophrenia. Participants will undergo a 10-day intervention (twice daily) and will be assessed using clinical, cognitive (MCCB), and neuroimaging (rs-fMRI) tests at baseline and post-intervention.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

10

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 Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • China
    • Hunan
      • Changsha, Hunan, China, 410011
        • Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Renrong Wu

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

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age 18-50 years old;
  • meet the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth edition (DSM-5) diagnostic criteria;
  • the diagnosis of schizophrenia is confirmed by the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 (SCID-5);
  • the disease duration does not exceed 8 years;
  • 1-2 antipsychotic drugs are taken, and the treatment dose of antipsychotic drugs was stable for at least 1 week before enrollment. Mood stabilizers, antidepressants, and excessive benzodiazepines (lorazepam when 2 doses exceeded 2 mg/d) are not allowed;
  • The type of antipsychotic drugs remains unchanged during treatment, and the dose is adjusted by no more than 25%;
  • Impaired functioning in daily activities;
  • The Global Deficit Score (GDS) for the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) reaches 0.5 or above;
  • Agree to participate in this study and provide written informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Presence of other psychiatric comorbidities, intellectual disability, obvious mood symptoms, or substance use disorders (other than caffeine and/or tobacco);
  • with clear drug-induced extrapyramidal reaction;
  • A history of seizures, meningitis, or encephalitis;
  • with contraindications to transcranial electrical stimulation;
  • History of intracranial tumors or surgery;
  • history of severe head trauma;
  • have received other regimens of electrical or magnetic therapy in 1 month before enrollment.

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
Experimental: TI
TI group will be administered temporal interference stimulation
Device: temporal interference stimulation
TIS will use 2 pairs of electrodes placed according to a 10-10 EEG system and fixed with conductive paste to produce a theta burst stimulation pattern. Electric field modeling will be performed utilizing MRI T1 images to optimize the individualized electrode configuration to generate electric field intensities above 0.4 V/m in the hippocampus of each patient. Each session of stimulation lasts 30 minutes.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
changes on MCCB scores
Time Frame: Baseline, after 2-week intervention
The MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) can be used for cognitive assessment of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and other neuropsychiatric diseases. The MCCB covers nine cognitive domains, including attention, information processing speed, verbal learning and memory, visual learning and memory, spatial working memory, reasoning, problem solving, social cognition, executive function, and fine motor skills. The working memory domain does not include verbal working memory because the Chinese language would not make feasible the inclusion of the LNS test.
Baseline, after 2-week intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Changes in Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS) scores
Time Frame: Baseline, after 2-week intervention
Range from 30 to 210, higher score indicates more severe positive and negative symptoms.
Baseline, after 2-week intervention
Change in Scale for Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) score
Time Frame: Baseline, after 2-week intervention
The score range is 0-120; the higher the score, the more severe the negative symptoms are.
Baseline, after 2-week intervention
Changes in brain function
Time Frame: Baseline, after 2-week intervention
Functional MRI (fMRI) is based on the blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) contrast that can detect changes in blood oxygenation to analyze the change of brain function after intervention.
Baseline, after 2-week intervention
changes on behavioral performance
Time Frame: Baseline, after 2-week intervention
Behavioral performance will be evaluated by memory task, including Sternberg Item-Recognition Paradigm and mnemonic similarity task.
Baseline, after 2-week intervention
changes of global function.
Time Frame: Baseline, after 2-week intervention
Global function will be measured by the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF). GAF is a 0-100 numerical scale used by clinicians to subjectively rate a person's overall psychological, social, and occupational functioning. Higher scores (91-100) indicate superior functioning, while lower scores (1-10) indicate severe danger or impairment.
Baseline, after 2-week intervention
Changes in Psychotic symptom rating scales (PSYRATS) score
Time Frame: Baseline, after 2-week intervention
The Psychotic Symptom Rating Scales (PSYRATS) is a clinician-rated instrument that assesses the multidimensional severity of auditory hallucinations and delusions. It consists of two subscales: an 11-item Hallucinations subscale (total score range 0-44) and a 6-item Delusions subscale (total score range 0-24), with each item rated from 0 to 4. A higher score indicates more severe auditory hallucinations and delusions.
Baseline, after 2-week intervention
adverse event incidences
Time Frame: Day 1, day 2, day 3, day 4, day 5, day 6, day 7, day 8, day 9, day 10.
The adverse event recording form (AERF) includes common adverse reactions induced by TIS. Each item is between 1 (absent) and 4 (severe). A higher score indicates a more severe adverse event.
Day 1, day 2, day 3, day 4, day 5, day 6, day 7, day 8, day 9, day 10.

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Central South University

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)

March 15, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

May 1, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

May 15, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 26, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 26, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

March 3, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 17, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 12, 2026

Last Verified

March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • TIS20260106
  • 82325020 (Other Grant/Funding Number: National Natural Science Foundation of China)

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

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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