COMPLETED

Improving Hallucinations by Targeting the rSTS With tES

Study Overview

This clinical trial focuses on testing the efficacy of different digital interventions to promote re-engagement in cancer-related long-term follow-up care for adolescent and young adult (AYA) survivors of childhood cancer.

Description

Hallucinations are a core diagnostic feature of psychotic disorders. They involve different sensory modalities, including auditory, visual, olfactory, tactile, and gustatory hallucinations, among others. Hallucinations occur in multiple different neurological and psychiatric illnesses and can be refractory to existing treatments. Auditory hallucinations and visual hallucinations are found across diagnostic categories of psychotic disorders (schizophrenia, schizoaffective, bipolar disorder). Despite visual hallucinations being approximately half as frequent as auditory hallucinations, they almost always co-occur with auditory hallucinations, and are linked to a more severe psychopathological profile. Auditory and visual hallucinations at baseline also predict higher disability, risk of relapse and duration of psychosis after 1 and 2 years, especially when they occur in combination. Using a newly validated technique termed lesion network mapping, researchers demonstrated that focal brain lesions connected to the right superior temporal sulcus (rSTS) plays a causal role in the development of hallucinations. The rSTS receives convergent somatosensory, auditory, and visual inputs, and is regarded as a site for multimodal sensory integration. Here the investigators aim to answer the question whether noninvasive brain stimulation when optimally targeted to the rSTS can improve brain activity, sensory integration, and hallucinations.

Official Title

Improving Hallucinations by Targeting the Right Superior Temporal Sulcus With Electrical Stimulation

Quick Facts

Study Start:2021-11-01
Study Completion:2025-06-23
Study Type:Not specified
Phase:Not Applicable
Enrollment:Not specified
Status:COMPLETED

Study ID

NCT05165654

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.

Ages Eligible for Study:18 Years to 50 Years
Sexes Eligible for Study:ALL
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:No
Standard Ages:ADULT
Inclusion CriteriaExclusion Criteria
  1. 1. Aged 18-50 years of age
  2. 2. Proficient in English
  3. 3. Able to give informed consent
  4. 4. Actively experiencing hallucinations (tactile, auditory, visual, etc.)
  5. 5. Has not recently participated in tES/TMS treatments
  1. 1. Substance abuse or dependence (w/in past 6 months)
  2. 2. Those who are pregnant/breastfeeding
  3. 3. History of head injury with \> 15 minutes of loss of consciousness/mal sequelae
  4. 4. DSM-V intellectual disability
  5. 5. Having a non-removable ferromagnetic metal within the body (particularly in the head)
  6. 6. History of seizures

Contacts and Locations

Principal Investigator

Paulo Lizano, MD, PhD
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Study Locations (Sites)

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Boston, Massachusetts, 02215
United States

Collaborators and Investigators

Sponsor: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

  • Paulo Lizano, MD, PhD, PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

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 Registration Dates

Study Start Date2021-11-01
Study Completion Date2025-06-23

Study Record Updates

Study Start Date2021-11-01
Study Completion Date2025-06-23

Terms related to this study

Keywords Provided by Researchers

  • Transcranial Electrical Stimulation
  • Electroencephalography

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

  • Hallucinations, Auditory
  • Psychosis