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Physiology of Human Brain Connectivity

Massachusetts General Hospital · with National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) · NCT06246942

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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 18–64 · All sexes
Healthy volunteers
Accepted
Study type
Interventional · Not applicable
Target enrollment
80
US sites recruiting
1
Study start
December 13, 2024
Record last updated
November 10, 2025

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

What the study is about

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effective connectivity between different regions of the human brain in healthy participants, and the mechanisms which influence and modulate its development. Specifically, the investigators will examine the effects of cortico-cortical paired associative stimulation (ccPAS) which is induced by the application of brief (\< 1 ms) transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) pulses separated by a short millisecond-level time intervals ("asynchrony") to two different areas of the brain. All techniques are non-invasive and considered safe in humans: TMS, electroencephalography (EEG), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Based on previous animal and human studies, it is hypothesized that ccPAS will increase or decrease effective connectivity between the stimulated areas depending on the asynchrony value. The main outcome measure is source-resolved EEG cortico-cortical evoked potentials (ccEPs) elicited by single-pulse TMS.

Being studied: Single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (spTMS); Paired associative stimulation (PAS); Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

Conditions: Healthy

Eligibility criteria

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

Show full criteria

Inclusion Criteria

  • Age from 18 to 64 years
  • Right-handed
  • Normal hearing and (corrected) vision
  • Able to understand and give informed consent

Exclusion Criteria

  • Cardiac pacemaker or pacemaker wires; neurostimulators; implanted pumps
  • Metal in the body (e.g., rods, plates, screws, shrapnel, dentures that cannot be removed during the recordings, IUD)
  • Suspected metallic particles in the eye
  • Surgical clips in the head or previous neurosurgery
  • Any magnetic particles in the body
  • Cochlear implants
  • Prosthetic heart valves
  • Epilepsy or any other type of seizure history
  • Any neurological diagnoses or medications influencing brain function
  • History of significant head trauma (i.e., extended loss of consciousness, neurological sequelae)
  • Known structural brain lesion
  • Significant other disease (heart disease, malignant tumors, mental disorders)
  • Significant claustrophobia; Ménière's disease
  • Pregnancy (ruled out by urine ß-HCG if answers to screening questions suggest that pregnancy is possible), breast feeding
  • Non prescribed drug use
  • Failure to perform the behavioral tasks or neuropsychological evaluation tests
  • Prisoners

Recruiting US locations

Study contacts (from the official record)

  • Netri Pajankar, MS · 617-726-2000 · npajankar@mgh.harvard.edu
  • Gabriel Fadel, MS · 617-726-2000 · gfadel@mgh.harvard.edu
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Physiology of Human Brain Connectivity (NCT06246942) | Bored Studies