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NCT Number: NCT07561229

Effects of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on Two Cerebellar Targets

The purpose of this study is to understand how different areas of the cerebellum (a part of the brain) control different functions and how they can be influenced by non-invasive brain stimulation.

While researchers know that repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) can have positive effects on conditions like stroke and schizophrenia, they do not yet fully understand which specific stimulation settings work best or which exact parts of the cerebellum should be targeted for different symptoms.

This study compares the effects of stimulation on two specific regions:

* Lobule VIII: Linked to movement and motor learning. * CRUS I/II: Linked to attention, thinking (cognition), and predicting the timing of events.By comparing these areas, researchers hope to gain the information needed to develop better treatments for neurological and psychiatric disorders.

This is a randomized, double-blind study involving 40 healthy volunteers. Participants will be split into two groups:

* Group 1: Receives "exciting" (activity-increasing) stimulation. * Group 2: Receives "inhibiting" (activity-decreasing) stimulation.

Each participant will attend three different test sessions in a random order:

* rTMS targeting Lobule VIII * rTMS targeting CRUS I/II * Placebo (Sham) stimulation that looks and feels like the real thing but does not affect the brain.

During each session, researchers will use brain imaging (fMRI) and computerized tasks to measure changes in brain connectivity and performance in motor and cognitive activities.

There is no direct medical benefit to the participants. However, the results will help scientists create better therapies for patients with brain-related health issues The risks are considered minimal. Common side effects of rTMS include temporary mild headaches or a clicking sound during stimulation. MRI scans can sometimes cause mild discomfort or a feeling of closed-in spaces (claustrophobia). Researchers have put safety measures in place, such as hearing protection and constant medical supervision during scans, to minimize these risks.

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Key information

Conditions

Healthy Healthy Adult

Age range

18 year–60 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Subject, male or female, aged between 18 and 60 years inclusive
  • Subject affiliated with or a beneficiary of a social security health insurance scheme
  • Subject has dated and signed the informed consent form prior to the start of any trial-related procedures
  • For women of childbearing potential, a negative urinary pregnancy test and the use of effective contraception throughout the duration of the study

Exclusion criteria

  • Subject with substance use disorders (as defined by the DSM-5)
  • Subject having taken benzodiazepines and related compounds (within the period preceding inclusion, for a duration equivalent to 5 half-lives of the product), cannabis (within the 2 months preceding inclusion), or hallucinogenic substances (within the period preceding inclusion, for a duration equivalent to 5 half-lives of the product)
  • Subject suffering from a neurological pathology or sequelae
  • Subject with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
  • Subject with Borderline Personality Disorder
  • Subject presenting with disabling sensory impairments, specifically a visual acuity (corrected, if applicable) < 0.8 (due to the use of visual materials; Freiburg Vision Test, Bach 1996; verified during an examination at the screening visit)
  • Subject deprived of liberty or under legal protection
  • Subject under guardianship or trusteeship
  • Pregnant or breastfeeding woman (verified by a urinary test at the screening visit)
  • Subject within an exclusion period defined by another clinical study or participating in a study likely to impact the results of the research
  • Subject presenting a contraindication for fMRI or rTMS: presence of non-removable ferromagnetic bodies, prostheses, pacemakers, implanted medication pumps, vascular clips or stents, heart valves or ventricular shunts, certain intracerebral clips, cochlear implants, history of seizures (epilepsy), or skin breach/pathology at the point of contact with the electrodes
  • Subject with a history of major neurological or psychiatric disease with current psychotropic medication (i.e., antipsychotics, benzodiazepines and related compounds, or hypnotics)

Treatment and study plan

Active rTMS - Lobule VIII

Device

Either excitatory (e.g., iTBS) or inhibitory (e.g., cTBS) depending on the assigned group.

Active rTMS - Crus I/II

Device

Participants receive rTMS targeting the Crus I/II of the cerebellum. Either excitatory (e.g., iTBS) or inhibitory (e.g., cTBS) depending on the assigned group.

sham rTMS

Device

The coil looks and sounds identical to the active coil and is placed in the same positions (counterbalanced between Lobule VIII and Crus I/II sites). It provides the physical sensation and auditory "click" of TMS without delivering a significant magnetic field to the brain tissue, maintaining the study's double-blind integrity.

Other names: Placebo, Sham

Cognitive and Motor Assessment Battery

Behavioral

Participants perform three computerized tasks to evaluate the functional impact of the rTMS:

  • Visuomotor Task: A joystick-based task assessing motor coordination and learning (linked to Lobule VIII).
  • Temporal Prediction Task: A visual task requiring the participant to predict the timing of an event (linked to Crus I/II).
  • Mental Imagery & Finger Tapping: A task assessing the cognitive representation of movement.

Primary outcomes

  1. Change in Resting-State Functional Connectivity (RSFC) Measured by functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI, expressed as Fisher's z-transformed correlation coefficients) within Cerebellar-Thalamo-Frontal and Cerebellar-Parieto-Motor Networks.

    Time frame: Baseline (Pre-stimulation) and 1-hour post-stimulation

    Functional imaging data will be pre-processed according to standard procedures: slice-timing correction, intra-run spatial realignement, inter-run realignement, distortion and motion artifact correction, band-pass filtering to remove physiological noise, and normalization into the MNI common space, followed by smoothing using FSL and SPM12 software.Subsequently, the signal within the networks of interest will be extracted using the "Conn" toolbox and compared using a General Linear Model (GLM). Connectivity maps will be generated from specific "seed" regions of interest (Crus I/II and lobule VIII), where each voxel value corresponds to the correlation with the seed region.

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

Anne GIERSCH

CONTACT

[email protected]

+33(0)3 88 11 64 71 ext. +33

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University Hospital, Strasbourg, France

Other

Collaborators

  • ICube Laboratory

Registry information

Official study title

Effects of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) on Two Cerebellar Targets (Lobule VIII vs. CRUS I/II)

Acronym: StimCervelet

Important dates

Study start
2026
Primary completion
2030
Study completion
2030
First posted
May 1, 2026
Registry last updated
May 1, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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