Recruiting

TMS vs. rTMS

Sponsor:

McGill University

Code:

NCT07351032

Conditions

PARKINSON DISEASE (Disorder)

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 50+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Active

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Sham

Study Details

Brief summary:

The purpose of this study is to understand how a specific brain area, the Posterior Parietal Cortex (PPC), plays a role in movement transfer from walking on a split-belt treadmill (SBT) to walking on the ground in people with Parkinson's disease (PwPD).

Here, investigators will apply repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to upregulate the PPC. Then, the differences in the gait parameters between pre- and post-interventions will be compared between the TMS-active and the TMS-sham.

Conditions

PARKINSON DISEASE (Disorder)

Study ID

NCT07351032

Start date

Nov 18, 2025

Status verified date

Jan, 2026

Completion date

May, 2026

Anticipated

Primary completion date

May, 2026

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 50+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • a confirmed diagnosis of idiopathic Parkinson's disease
  • absence of freezing of gait confirmed by a "No" answer to the second item of the New Freezing of Gait Questionnaire (NFOGQ) and no observation of FOG during a freezing provoking test
  • no other neurological diagnosis
  • no severe musculoskeletal/orthopedic or vestibular condition that interferes with walking and or significantly affects balance
  • no mild cognitive impairment (Montreal Cognitive Assessment ≥ 25)
  • able to walk independently and without assistive device for 30 minutes
  • no previous experience with split-belt treadmill.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • severe dyskinesia that interacts with walking and balance hearing or visual impairment
  • observed inability to walk safely on a tied-belt treadmill
  • neurological disorders other than PD or other pathology (e.g., orthopedic) interfering with mobility. - contradiction for TMS
  • implanted deep brain stimulator.

Study Design

Enrollment

24 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Basic Science

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

other: Active rTMS First followed by Sham rTMS Second

Session 1: active rTMS (iTBS) over the right PPC Session 2: sham rTMS (iTBS) over the right PPC

other: Sham rTMS First followed by Active rTMS Second

Session 1: sham rTMS (iTBS) over the right PPC Session 2: active rTMS (iTBS) over the right PPC

Interventions

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Active

ACTIVE: intermittent Theta Burst Stimulation (a patterned form of rTMS). The participants will receive iTBS (50hz bursts at 5Hz for 600 pulses for a total duration of 3-minutes) over the right PPC at 80% RMT of the FDI.

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Sham

SHAM: 2 coils on top of each other will be used instead of 1. The coil furthest to the head will be reversed. The coil on the head will not be stimulating but the reversed coil will (current directed away from the brain) with stimulate with the same parameters at the active stimulation (intermittent Theta Burst Stimulation (a patterned form of rTMS). The participants will receive iTBS (50hz bursts at 5Hz for 600 pulses for a total duration of 3-minutes) over the right PPC at 80% RMT of the FDI.

Primary outcome measure

  • Stride length [ Time Frame: Day 2 and Day 3 ]
  • Dual Support [ Time Frame: Day 2 and Day 3 ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Tomoha Ogawa, BA

514-398-2488hbcl@mcgill.ca

Locations

McGill University - Currie Gymnasium

Recruiting

Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H2W 1S4

Contacts

Tomoha Ogawa, BA

514-398-2488hbcl@mcgill.ca

Principal Investigator:

Caroline Paquette, PhD

More Information

Sponsor

McGill University

Last update posted

Jan 20, 2026

Last verified

Jan, 2026

Keywords

  • Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
  • Split-belt Treadmill
  • Gait
  • Motor Adaptation

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by McGill University on 2026-01-20.