Recruiting

WISP

Sponsor:

University of Washington

Code:

NCT07608614

Conditions

Sleep

Glymphatic System

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 30

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Interventions

Transcranial Electric Stimulation

Sham Comparator

Study Details

Brief summary:

This research is being done to apply new, contrast-free MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) methods to understand the brain's waste clearance system (the "glymphatic" system) in younger adults. The Investigators hope the study will show how the different brain regions are involved in maintaining memories and how poor sleep affects these regions and our ability to remember. The Investigators will test whether the Wireless Interface Sensor Pod (WISP) improves brain function after poor sleep. The WISP is a headband that combines tracking brain waves and transcranial electrical stimulation (TES) to monitor and improve slow wave sleep and glymphatic clearance.

IParticipants will be asked to:

  • Complete 4 in-person study visits (1 per week) over 4 weeks at the Diagnostic Imaging Sciences Center (DISC), located at the University of Washington Medical Center at Montlake, Seattle. Each visit will last 2 hours and includes a 1 hour MRI and 1 hour of cognitive testing.
  • Complete a daily journal about sleep, daily habits, etc.
  • The night before each of the four study visits, participants will sleep while wearing the WISP headband.

  • For two of these nights, participants will sleep only 3 hours prior to normal time of awakening. The WISP will deliver a small electrical current for one night and not for the other night, but participants will not know which.
  • For the other two nights, participants will follow a normal sleep schedule. The WISP will deliver a small electrical current for one night and not for the other night, but participants will not know which.

Conditions

Sleep

Glymphatic System

Study ID

NCT07608614

Start date

Oct 1, 2025

Status verified date

May, 2026

Completion date

Jun, 2027

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Jun, 2027

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 30

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Physically and psychologically healthy
2. Good habitual sleep between 6 and 10 hours in duration, as assessed by questionnaire and pre-study week sleep/wake diary
3. Regular bedtimes, habitually getting up between 05:00 and 09:00, as assessed by questionnaire and pre-study week sleep/wake diary

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Subjects who have any type of non-MRI compatible bioimplant activated by mechanical, electronic, or magnetic means (e.g., cochlear implants, pacemakers, neurostimulators, biostimulators, electronic infusion pumps, etc.), because such devices may be displaced or malfunction.
  • Subjects who have any type of ferromagnetic bioimplant that could potentially be displaced.
  • Subjects who have cerebral aneurysm
  • Subjects who may have shrapnel imbedded in their bodies (such as from war wounds), metal workers and machinists (potential for metallic fragments in or near the eyes).
  • Minors (younger than 18 years)
  • Pregnant women ( Participants of childbearing potential will receive a urine pregnancy test. If the test is positive, the participant will be excluded)
  • Breastfeeding
  • Subjects who cannot adhere to the experimental protocols for any reason, or have an inability to communicate with the researcher.
  • no clinical disorders and/or illnesses, no psychiatric illnesses), as assessed by history and questionnaires
  • no alcohol during study and no normal excessive alcohol consumption assessed by questionnaire
  • No history of drug or alcohol abuse in the past year and no history of methamphetamine abuse, as assessed by questionnaires.
  • Not a dependent smoker or vaper, and not morning dependent on tobacco, nicotine, or cannabis, as assessed by questionnaire.
  • No history of moderate to severe brain injury, as assessed by questionnaire
  • No anti-psychotic medication for ADHD/ADD, as assessed by questionnaire
  • No previous adverse reaction to sleep deprivation, as assessed by questionnaire
  • Not vision-impaired unless corrected back to normal.
  • Not hearing impaired unless corrected to normal, as assessed by questionnaire
  • Not pregnant, as assessed by history and questionnaire
  • No sleep or circadian disorder, as assessed by questionnaires
  • No use of melatonin within 1 week of study enrollment
  • No travel across more than one time zone within one month of entering the study and no crossing times zones during study participation, as assessed by questionnaire.
  • No shift work within three months of entering the study and no shift work during duration study participation, as assessed by questionnaire.
  • epilepsy

Study Design

Enrollment

16 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Crossover

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

sham comparator: Sleep restriction, no TES

Participants will have sleep restriction, sham TES

experimental: Sleep restriction, TES

Participants will have sleep restriction, will have active TES

sham comparator: Normal sleep, no TES

Participants will follow normal sleep schedule, sham TES

experimental: Normal sleep, TES

Participants will follow normal sleep schedule, will have TES

Interventions

Transcranial Electric Stimulation

Participants will wear the Wireless Interface Sensor Pod (WISP), which combines EEG with Transcranial Electrical Stimulation (TES)

Sham Comparator

Participants will wear the WISP device, but no TES

Primary outcome measure

  • Multimodal MRI [ Time Frame: Immediately after the intervention with sleep condition and TES ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Yeilim Cho, MD

(206) 277-7207ycho7@uw.edu

Maria Tsimpanouli

tiats@uw.edu

Locations

University of Washington School of Medicine

Recruiting

Seattle, Washington, United States, 98125

Contacts

Yeilim Cho, MD

(206) 277-7207ycho7@uw.edu

More Information

Sponsor

University of Washington

Last update posted

May 27, 2026

Last verified

May, 2026

Keywords

  • sleep
  • glymphatic system
  • cognitive function

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 Washington on 2026-05-27.