NCT06968689

Spatiotemporal Thalamocortical Alterations Underlie Experimental and Chronic Pain

Spatiotemporal Thalamocortical Alterations Underlie Experimental and Chronic Pain - Phase II

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 60 (estimated)
• Sponsor: The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 60 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The purpose of this study is to assess thalamocortical (TC) connectivity during tonic pressure pain, to evaluate alpha activity during tonic pressure pain and to determine pressure pain ratings by using Electroencephalography (EEG), Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (tACS), sham and Transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS)

Conditions

• Pain

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DEVICE	transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS)	Participants will get a personalized brain stimulation: a 2 milliampere (mA) oscillating current that matches their natural alpha brain wave frequency (8-12 Hz), determined by a quick 3-minute EEG before the session.
DEVICE	Sham	Active sham stimulation with 60- second -tACS will be applied , then ramp down, and be reintroduced in the last 30 seconds to minimize awareness of the experimental condition
DEVICE	transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS)	Participants will still get stimulation, but at random frequencies between 1 and 200 Hz (instead of targeted alpha waves).

Timeline

• Start date: 2025-06-01
• Primary completion: 2027-12-31
• Completion: 2028-02-29
• First posted: 2025-05-13
• Last updated: 2026-03-02

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States

Regulatory

• FDA-regulated device study