Recruiting

rTMS & EEG

Sponsor:

Medical University of South Carolina

Code:

NCT07249801

Conditions

Visuomotor Skills

Brain Lesion (General)

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS)

Study Details

Brief summary:

This pilot study aims at establishing personalized state-based rTMS for precision neurorehabilitation, we designed a within-subject cross-over study to test closed-loop repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and electroencephalography (rTMS-EEG) comparing the targeting of two key nodes in the frontoparietal network during bimanual visuomotor force tracking in persons with upper extremity sensorimotor impairment affecting eye-hand control.

Conditions

Visuomotor Skills

Brain Lesion (General)

Study ID

NCT07249801

Start date

Nov 1, 2025

Status verified date

Sep, 2026

Completion date

Feb 28, 2027

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Feb 28, 2027

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • adult volunteers (age ≥18 years)
  • right-hand dominance (defined with the Edinburg Handedness Scale)
  • voluntary whole-hand grip force (Medical Research Council scale for muscle force ≥2)
  • capable of repeated grasp and release with 5% of maximum voluntary contraction (standardized with an in-house computer-based assessment involving whole-hand grip force tracking upon visual cues with a digital dynamometer).

Exclusion Criteria:

  • presence of any MRI risk factors (such as an electrically, magnetically, mechanically activated metal or nonmetal implant including cardiac pacemaker, intracerebral vascular clips, any other electrically sensitive support system, or claustrophobia)
  • presence of any contraindications to repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, rTMS (e.g., history of seizures or epileptic activity, currently taking medications that lower seizure thresholds)
  • any neurological or psychiatric disorders affecting cognitive function (e.g., established dementia) affecting the ability to understand the purpose of the study and give informed consent or ability to complete cognitive testing
  • substance use disorder
  • visual impairment that precludes completion of scanner tasks
  • uncontrolled hypertension despite treatment
  • intake of tricyclic anti-depressants
  • musculoskeletal disorders affecting bimanual grasp- and release
  • pregnancy (or suspected/possible pregnancy or plan to become pregnant in the short term). If the participant is a woman of childbearing potential, a urine pregnancy test will be performed on a standard basis.
  • severe aphasia affecting particularly of receptive nature (NIH Stroke Scale, NIHSS Language subsection ≥2) affecting the ability to understand the purpose of the study and give informed consent
  • pregnancy

Study Design

Enrollment

20 participants

Anticipated

Intervention Model

Single group

Primary purpose

Other

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: state-dependent repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS)

Repetitive TMS will be applied to cortical targets based on task-based (visuomotor) brain activation.

Interventions

repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS)

rTMS will be applied time-locked to the intrinsic brain rhythms to individually-defined brain regions

Primary outcome measure

  • Change of whole hand grip force precision [ Time Frame: 90 minutes ]
  • Change of functional brain connectivity. [ Time Frame: 90 minutes ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Kirstin-Friederike Heise, PhD

843-792-3435heisek@musc.edu

Locations

Medical University of South Carolina

Recruiting

Charleston, South Carolina, United States, 29425

More Information

Sponsor

Medical University of South Carolina

Last update posted

Sep 15, 2026

Last verified

Sep, 2026

Keywords

  • visuomotor processing
  • electroencephalography (EEG)
  • transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
  • eye-hand control

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-10-24. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Medical University of South Carolina on 2026-09-15. Recruitment status is synced daily from ClinicalTrials.gov and may not reflect the sponsor's current status. Confirm during your call.