Recruiting

Neuromodulation

Sponsor:

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Code:

NCT06601686

Conditions

Healthy

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 70+

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Interventions

Transcranial electrical stimulation (TES)

Transcranial electrical stimulation with temporal interference (TES-TI)

Sham stimulation

Study Details

Brief summary:

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether brain stimulation technology can help people reach a meditative state quickly and easily without years of meditation training. The researchers want to see if this will help people distance themselves from their thoughts and feeling, and if this will lead to improvements in openness and wellbeing the same way meditation can.

Participants will:

  • Complete questionnaires
  • Perform a guided meditation task (The Bell Task)
  • Wear a high density electrocochleography (hdEEG) cap
  • Undergo brain stimulation
  • Perform cognitive tasks

Conditions

Healthy

Study ID

NCT06601686

Start date

Jan 8, 2025

Status verified date

May, 2026

Completion date

Jan, 2028

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Jan, 2027

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 70+

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Adults, ages 18 to 80 of any identified gender
  • Medically healthy
  • English-speaking (able to provide consent and complete questionnaires)
  • Healthy adults with a consistent meditation practice
  • Citizen or legal resident

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Any current or past history of neurological disorders or acquired neurological disease (e.g. stroke, traumatic brain injury), including intracranial lesions
  • Any current or past history of bipolar disorder and/or hypomania
  • Any current or past history of psychosis
  • History of head trauma resulting in prolonged loss of consciousness; or a history of greater than 3 grade I concussions
  • Current history of poorly controlled headaches including intractable or poorly controlled migraines
  • Any systemic illness or unstable medical condition that may cause a medical emergency in case of a provoked seizure (cardiac malformation, cardiac dysrhythmia, asthma, etc.)
  • History of fainting spells of unknown or undetermined etiology that might constitute seizures
  • History of seizures, diagnosis of epilepsy, history of abnormal (epileptiform) EEG, or family history of treatment resistant epilepsy with the exception of a single seizure of benign etiology (e.g. febrile seizures) in the judgment of a board-certified neurologist
  • Possible pregnancy. All female participants of child-bearing age are required to have a pregnancy test
  • Any metal in the brain, skull or head
  • Any contraindications to MRI
  • Any medical devices or implants (i.e. cardiac pacemaker, medication infusion pump, cochlear implant, vagal nerve stimulator, dental implants (this includes a permanent retainer)) unless otherwise approved by the responsible MD
  • Substance abuse or dependence within the past six months
  • Any medication that may alter seizure threshold i.e., ADHD stimulants (Adderall, amphetamine); Tricyclic/atypical antidepressants (Amitriptyline, Dioxepine, Imipramine Maprotiline, Nortriptyline, Bupropion); Antipsychotics (Chlorpromazine, Clozapine), Bronchodilators (theophylline, aminophylline); Antibiotics (fluoroquinolones, imipenem, penicillin, cephalosporins, metronidazole, isoniazid); Antiviral (Valacyclovir, Ritonavir); OTC (Diphenhydramine)
  • Claustrophobia (a fear of small or closed places)
  • Back problems that would prevent lying flat for up to two hours
  • Motion sickness
  • Any hair braid, dreadlocks, hair pieces, or extensions which cannot be taken out or adjusted to permit comfortable and comprehensive participation before the MRI scans and/or stimulation sessions
  • Any head coverings or headdress that participant feels uncomfortable removing for the purposes of the MRI scans and/or stimulation session

Study Design

Enrollment

22 participants

Anticipated

Intervention Model

Single group

Primary purpose

Basic Science

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Stimulation

Participants will undergo sham, TES or TES-TI stimulation while completing cognitive assessments.

Interventions

Transcranial electrical stimulation (TES)

TES uses specific electrode arrangement patterns to selectively stimulate the brain. Participants will wear an hdEEG (high density electroencephalography) cap which will allow intermittent periods of stimulation from TES.

Transcranial electrical stimulation with temporal interference (TES-TI)

TES-TI uses specific electrode arrangement patterns to selectively stimulate the brain. Participants will wear an hdEEG (high density electroencephalography) cap which will allow intermittent periods of stimulation from TES-TI.

Sham stimulation

TES-TI sham includes receiving stimulation from all electrodes at the same frequency. Sham TES will include administration of transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS), random oscillating current. It will also include periods with no stimulation and a ramping up period followed by no stimulation.

Primary outcome measure

  • Ego-Disengagement scale [ Time Frame: Data collected at one study visit (anytime up to 2 weeks on study) ]
  • Cortical activity - change in gamma band power [ Time Frame: Data collected at one study visit (anytime up to 2 weeks on study) ]
  • Cortical activity - change in alpha band power [ Time Frame: Data collected at one study visit (anytime up to 2 weeks on study) ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Simone Bruno

608-209-4108sbruno3@wisc.edu

Locations

University of Wisconsin

Recruiting

Madison, Wisconsin, United States, 53719

Contacts

Simone Bruno

608-209-4108sbruno3@wisc.edu

Principal Investigator:

Melanie Boly, MD, PhD

More Information

Sponsor

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Last update posted

May 26, 2026

Last verified

May, 2026

Keywords

  • meditation
  • brain stimulation

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-09. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by University of Wisconsin, Madison on 2026-05-26.