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Brain Stimulation to the Hippocampus in Schizophrenia

Stanford University · with National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) · NCT07010614

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Opens the official ClinicalTrials.gov record, with the study team’s contacts. Bored Studies doesn’t enroll anyone.

Key facts

Compensation
Not posted. Ask the study team before screening.
Who can join
Ages 18–65 · All sexes
Healthy volunteers
Accepted
Study type
Interventional · Not applicable
Target enrollment
60
US sites recruiting
1
Study start
October 1, 2025
Record last updated
February 27, 2026

Status re-checked against ClinicalTrials.gov within the last 12 hours.

What the study is about

Schizophrenia - marked by delusions, hallucinations, and cognitive deficits - causes the most disability of any mental health condition, but existing treatments have significant side effect burden and are often ineffective. Disordered neural activity in the hippocampus likely contributes to schizophrenia symptoms, but to develop better therapies we need to understand whether hippocampal activity in schizophrenia can be systematically affected by non-invasive brain stimulation techniques like transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). This proposal will investigate the use of connectivity-guided theta burst brain stimulation to specifically target hippocampal function in schizophrenia, offering insights into fundamental hippocampal processes, schizophrenia pathophysiology, and potential avenues to use brain stimulation as a therapeutic tool in this devastating illness.

Being studied: Intracranial electrodes; TMS; TMS sham

Conditions: Schizophrenia Disorders; Mental Disorder; Psychotic Disorder

Eligibility criteria

Copied from the official record. The study team makes the final decision at screening.

Show full criteria

Inclusion Criteria

  • Men and women, ages 18 to 65 years
  • Medically intractable epilepsy requiring phase II monitoring (intracranial EEG arms only)
  • DSM-V diagnosis of schizophrenia spectrum Axis I disorders including delusional disorder, brief psychotic disorder, schizophreniform disorder, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder (non-invasive TMS-EEG arms only).
  • Must have intellectual capacity to ensure adequate comprehension of the study and potential risks involved in order to provide informed consent
  • No current or history of major neurological disorders other than epilepsy.

Exclusion Criteria

  • DSM5 diagnosis of intellectual disability
  • Significant head injury
  • Active suicidal ideation or history of suicide attempt within the past 1 year.
  • Medical illness affecting brain structure or function, or other uncontrolled or unstable medical condition.
  • Pregnancy or postpartum (\<6 weeks after delivery or miscarriage)
  • Inability to provide informed consent
  • Active substance abuse other than alcohol or cannabis within the past 1 year
  • Psychotic illness with a temporal relation to substance use or head injury
  • Those with a contraindication for MRIs or TMS (e.g. implanted metal).

Recruiting US locations

  • Stanford University

    Stanford, CA 94305

    Site contact: Study Team · 408-840-3313 · kellerlab@stanford.edu

Study contacts (from the official record)

  • Study Team · 408-840-3313 · kellerlab@stanford.edu
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Brain Stimulation to the Hippocampus in Schizophrenia (NCT07010614) | Bored Studies