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rTMS for Impulse Control Disorders in Parkinson's Disease

This study is looking at how repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) might help people with Parkinson's disease (PD) who also experience impulse control disorders (ICDs). rTMS is a device that uses magnetic pulses to stimulate specific areas of the brain. You could be eligible if you have a confirmed diagnosis of PD, have an ICD, and meet certain scores on depression and cognitive tests. The study will measure if rTMS changes how you make decisions related to rewards (reinforcement learning) and how you weigh immediate versus delayed rewards (delay-discounting) within an hour after the treatment. The study is currently unclear on its recruitment status and aims to enroll 20 participants.

Study design
This is a randomized, sham-controlled, cross-over study involving 20 participants. This means you will receive both the active rTMS and a sham (inactive) rTMS, with the order decided by chance.
What's involved
You will undergo two sessions, one with active rTMS and one with sham rTMS, about 1-2 weeks apart. Each session involves about 10-15 minutes of rTMS, followed by tasks and questionnaires.
Compensation
Not stated in the trial record.
Follow-up
The main effects are measured within 1 hour after each rTMS session.

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NCT06237868

rTMS Over the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex for the Treatment of Impulse Control Disorders in Parkinson's Disease

Recruiting
NAAges 18+InterventionalTreatment
West Virginia University
~20 participants
Updated 2026-04-20 on ClinicalTrials.gov
What's tested:rTMS ActiverTMS Sham

At a glance

Recruiting sites
1 of 1 listed site is recruiting right now
RecruitingSuspended, closed, or not yet open
What they're measuring
Change in Delay-Discounting
Measured over Baseline to 1 hour following the intervention
+1 more outcome measured

Conditions

Impulse Control Disorder
Parkinson Disease

Explore related trials

Impulse-Control DisorderParkinson Disease

Where it's being run

1 sites across 1 states
West Virginia1

Study leadership

  • Mariya V Cherkasova, PhD · PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR · West Virginia University

Who to contact

Mariya V Cherkasova, PhD
[email protected]
2403673068
Email the study team

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Do you actually qualify for this trial?

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Eligibility criteria

Inclusion

Clinician-confirmed diagnosis of PD
Ability to provide informed consent, written and verbal
Clinician-diagnosed impulse control disorder or impulse control behaviors including punding/hobbyism and dopamine dysregulation syndrome
A Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) (Beck et al., 1961) score of 14 or lower
A Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) (Nasreddine et al., 2005) score of 20 or higher
On dopamine-replacement therapy

Exclusion

History of seizures or epilepsy
History of brain lesions (such as multiple sclerosis, tumor) reported
History of vascular issues in the brain, such as stroke
History of a moderate to severe traumatic brain injury
Meeting the criteria for a major psychiatric illness such as schizophrenia or depression (BDI score of 14 or higher).
Having significant cognitive impairment (assessed by MoCA, cutoff score of 20) (Nasreddine, et al., 2005)
Having had TMS done in the recent past (within a year)
Pregnancy assessed in female patients
Intracranial metallic objects (except for dental fillings)
Current use of substances or medications known to significantly reduce seizure threshold.

What this trial measures

  • Change in Delay-DiscountingBaseline to 1 hour following the intervention

    Change in performance on a task assessing delay-discounting. Delay-discounting assesses the participants' impulsivity by requiring them to make choices between smaller sooner hypothetical money rewards and larger later hypothetical money rewards (e.g. $10 today vs $100 in a year). This is a hypothetical choice, and the participant will not be receiving the chosen rewards. A short preliminary version of the task will be completed at the start of the first session (prior to TMS) to optimize task parameters for each participant. The task will be completed on a laptop computer.

  • Change in Reinforcement LearningBaseline to 1 hour following the intervention

    Change in performance on a task assessing reinforcement learning. The reinforcement learning task assesses how well participants learn from rewards vs. punishments. The task will ask participants to choose from two stimuli that predict reward (gaining points) or punishment (losing points) at different rates, which they will learn in the course of the task based on feedback. At the end of the task, participants will be asked to rate how well each stimulus predicted reward or punishment.