Recruiting

rTMS

Sponsor:

Kansas State University

Code:

NCT07389694

Conditions

Stuttering, Adult

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 65

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Study Details

Brief summary:

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if repeated transcranial magnetic stimuli (rTMS) can treat stuttering in adults. The main questions it aims to answer are:

  • Will there be changes in the brains of people who stutter because of the treatment?
  • Will any changes in the brain result in less stuttering?

Participants will:

  • Visit the lab 3 times before treatment for tests
  • Complete 10 rTMS sessions
  • Visit the lab 2 times after treatment for tests

Conditions

Stuttering, Adult

Study ID

NCT07389694

Start date

Feb 15, 2026

Status verified date

Feb, 2026

Completion date

Dec 15, 2028

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Dec 15, 2027

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 65

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age from 18 to 65 years
  • Self-identifies as a person who currently stutters
  • Right-handed or left-handed
  • Normal hearing and (corrected) vision
  • Able to understand and give informed consent
  • Monolingual English speaker

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Cardiac pacemaker or pacemaker wires; neurostimulators; implanted pumps
  • Metal in the body (rods, plates, screws, shrapnel, dentures, IUD) or metallic particles in the eye
  • Facial tattoos
  • Not having medical insurance
  • 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
  • History of significant head trauma (i.e., extended loss of consciousness, neurological sequelae)
  • Known structural brain lesions
  • Pre-existing speech, language, or neurological disorder (except for stuttering)
  • Significant other disease (heart disease, malignant tumors, mental disorders)
  • Significant claustrophobia; Ménière's disease
  • Women who are trying to get pregnant and sexually active women (of reproductive age) not on a reliable contraceptive
  • Pregnancy, breastfeeding
  • Medications increasing the risk for seizures
  • Non-prescribed drug use
  • Use of recreational drugs such as medical marijuana
  • Failure to perform the behavioral tasks or neuropsychological evaluation tests
  • Prisoners

Study Design

Enrollment

10 participants

Anticipated

Intervention Model

Single group

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation to treat stuttering

There is only one arm to this study. All participants will receive 10 days of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation to specific cortical speech and motor areas.

Interventions

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

This study uses Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) applied to specific speech and motor areas of the brain to stimulate cortical areas that experience reduced activations during left-hemisphere dominant tasks in people who stutter.

Primary outcome measure

  • Changes in functional connectivity with resting-state electroencephalography (rs-EEG) [ Time Frame: Baseline, immediately post-treatment, and one week after post-treatment. ]
  • Changes in behavioral measures of stuttering and phonological processing. [ Time Frame: Baseline, immediately post-treatment, and one week after post-treatment. ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Kristin Pelczarski, Ph.D.

785-532-6879kpelczar@ksu.edu

Julio Hernandez Pavon, Ph.D., DSc

juliohpavon@ksu.edu

Locations

Bluemont Hall, Department of Psychological Sciences, Kansas State University

Recruiting

Manhattan, Kansas, United States, 66506-7500

Contacts

Julio Hernandez Pavon, Ph.D., D.Sc.

785-532-0805juliohpavon@ksu.edu

Principal Investigator:

Julio Hernandez Pavon, Ph.D., D.Sc.

More Information

Sponsor

Kansas State University

Last update posted

Aug 5, 2026

Last verified

Feb, 2026

Keywords

  • stuttering
  • noninvasive treatment
  • transcranial magnetic stimulation
  • eye tracking
  • EEG

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Kansas State University on 2026-08-05.