A Pilot Feasibility Study of Overnight Thalamic TES-TI to Modulate Sleep Spindles in Individuals With Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders and Matched Healthy Controls
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Summary
This study to find out whether a type of non-invasive electrical brain stimulation called transcranial electrical stimulation with temporal interference (TES-TI) can temporarily change brain activity during sleep-especially sleep spindles (brain rhythms in the \~8-16 Hz range). The investigators are focusing on the thalamus, a deep brain region that helps coordinate brain activity during non-REM sleep. Sleep spindles are often reduced in schizophrenia, so this study is to see whether TES-TI can change spindle activity in individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) and in healthy adults. To study this, a structural MRI scan will be used to customize where the stimulation electrodes are placed, and then TES-TI will be applied during one of two overnight sleep lab visits while brain activity is recorded with high-density EEG and standard sleep sensors. The other overnight is a baseline/control night during which only sham stimulation is delivered. The goal is to determine whether TES-TI during sleep can increase spindle-frequency activity in this population.
Description
This single-site, single-blind, proof-of-concept feasibility study will evaluate the feasibility of overnight thalamic transcranial electrical stimulation with temporal interference (TES-TI) to modulate sleep spindle activity during N2 sleep in individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) and matched healthy controls (HC). The study is investigational and is not designed or intended to provide therapeutic benefit; no treatment effect is claimed. After screening, consent, and clinical interview for individuals with SSD, participants will complete an MRI visit (T1, T2, DWI, and 10 mi…