Effects of Continuous Theta Burst Stimulation on Emotional Attention

NCT07268001 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: ΕΕΒΚ/ΕΠ/2019/67
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 91
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to examine the differential effect of continuous TBS (cTBS) over the left and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) on the facilitation of attention towards emotional (i.e., pleasant and distress-ing) versus neutral stimuli in healthy young adults. The main questions it aims to answer are:

1. 1.To what extend a temporary modulation of DLPFC activity through cTBS influences attentional responses to emotional stimuli?
2. 2.To what extend the effects of cTBS on attentional responses to emotional stimuli differ depending on whether the left or right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is stimulated?

Conditions

Healthy Participants

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Response times in the dot-probe task

  Response times to distressing, pleasant, and neutral stimuli were assessed using the dot-probe paradigm.

  From enrollment to the end of dot-probe task, that was performed in 1 session (1 day).

Study Arms (4)

cTBS over the left DLPFC

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants receive 1 session of continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC; F3, following standard coordinates from the EEG International 10-20 system). The TBS sesssion consisted of 3 pulses at 50 Hz, with each train being repeated every 200 ms (5 Hz) for 40 seconds (600 pulses). After stimulation, attentional responses to pleasant and distressing images are assessed using the dot-probe task, which measures attentional bias toward emotional stimuli by presenting pairs of pleasant-neutral, distressing-neutral and neutral-neutral images. After each image pair, a dot appears in the location of one image, and participants must quickly indicate its position.

Device: Continuous theta burst stimulation

cTBS over the right DLPFC

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants receive 1 session of continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) over the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC; F4, following standard coordinates from the EEG International 10-20 system). The TBS sesssion consisted of 3 pulses at 50 Hz, with each train being repeated every 200 ms (5 Hz) for 40 seconds (600 pulses). After stimulation, attentional responses to pleasant and distressing images are assessed using the dot-probe task, which measures attentional bias toward emotional stimuli by presenting pairs of pleasant-neutral, distressing-neutral and neutral-neutral images. After each image pair, a dot appears in the location of one image, and participants must quickly indicate its position.

Device: Continuous theta burst stimulation

sham cTBS over the left DLPFC

SHAM COMPARATOR

Participants receive 1 session of sham continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC; F3, following standard coordinates from the EEG International 10-20 system). Sham stimulation was delivered using a sham coil that produced the same stimulation noise, but inducing nearly zero electric-field under the coil's center. After sham stimulation, attentional responses to pleasant and distressing images are assessed using the dot-probe task, which measures attentional bias toward emotional stimuli by presenting pairs of pleasant-neutral, distressing-neutral and neutral-neutral images. After each image pair, a dot appears in the location of one image, and participants must quickly indicate its position.

Device: Sham Control

sham cTBS over the right DLPFC

SHAM COMPARATOR

Participants receive 1 session of sham continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) over the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC; F3, following standard coordinates from the EEG International 10-20 system). Sham stimulation was delivered using a sham coil that produced the same stimulation noise, but inducing nearly zero electric-field under the coil's center. After sham stimulation, attentional responses to pleasant and distressing images are assessed using the dot-probe task, which measures attentional bias toward emotional stimuli by presenting pairs of pleasant-neutral, distressing-neutral and neutral-neutral images. After each image pair, a dot appears in the location of one image, and participants must quickly indicate its position.

Device: Sham Control

Interventions

Continuous theta burst stimulation DEVICE

A TBS session burst consist of 3 pulses at 50 Hz, with each train being repeated every 200 ms (5 Hz) for 40 seconds (600 pulses).

Also known as: Non invasive brain stimulation

cTBS over the left DLPFC; cTBS over the right DLPFC

Sham Control DEVICE

Sham stimulation was delivered using an identical with the real Magstim figure of eight focal sham coil (70 mm diameter) that produced the same stimulation noise. Sham Magstim figure-of-eight coil have been found to induce nearly zero electric-field under the coil's center.

sham cTBS over the left DLPFC; sham cTBS over the right DLPFC

Eligibility Criteria

• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Medication-free, right-handed, normal vision, without ant estabished risk factor to rTMS (screening performed with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Safety Questionnaire).

You may not qualify if:

• History of psychiatric/neurological disorders, such as epilepsy, head trauma and migraine.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Cyprus: lead

Study Sites (1)

University of Cyprus

Nicosia, 2109, Cyprus

Location

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Prof. Dr.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 24, 2025
• First Posted: December 5, 2025
• Study Start: April 15, 2020
• Primary Completion: May 16, 2020
• Study Completion: May 16, 2020
• Last Updated: December 5, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-11

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

CY (1)