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NCT07075770Recruiting

Novel Personalized Non Invasive Combined Magnetic and Electrical Stimulation of the DMN in Mild AD Patients

Novel Personalized Non Invasive Combined Magnetic and Electrical Stimulation of the Default Mode Network in Mild AD Patients (CMES-AD)

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Last updated 13 Jan 2026

Brief summary (registry, in English)

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is increasingly recognized as a disorder marked by early synaptic dysfunction and disrupted brain network connectivity, beyond the traditional focus on amyloid pathology. Synaptic plasticity (crucial for learning and memory) is compromised in AD and represents a promising therapeutic target. In particular, alterations in the Default Mode Network (DMN), especially in regions like the precuneus, suggest that restoring connectivity and enhancing plasticity may improve cognitive outcomes. This project proposes a novel, precision-delivered non-invasive brain stimulation protocol that combines repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) over the DMN. The intervention will be evaluated through cognitive testing, blood-based biomarkers, MRI and TMS-EEG, alongside immersive virtual environments to assess sensorimotor and cognitive function. This approach aims to test neuromodulation strategies capable of slowing neurodegeneration and supporting early detection and rehabilitation in AD.

Status (registry)
Recruiting
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
60 (estimated)
First submitted
10 Jul 2025
Start date
1 Jan 2025
Primary completion date
30 Jun 2027
Lead sponsor
I.R.C.C.S. Fondazione Santa Lucia
NCT number
NCT07075770

What you commit to

  • Study type: Interventional
  • Planned participants: 60
  • From 1 Jan 2025 to the primary completion date, 30 Jun 2027
  • 2 sites in 1 country
  • Visits and tests: ask the trial team, the registry does not list them

Built from the registry fields of ClinicalTrials.gov. It describes the study, not your situation.

Who cannot take part

Copied verbatim from ClinicalTrials.gov and grouped by topic. Only the trial team decides who can take part.

Prior treatment

  • Hospitalization or change in chronic concomitant medications one month before the screening or during the screening period

Other illness

  • Failure to undergo screening or baseline exams
  • A current DSM-V diagnosis of major depression, schizophrenia, or bipolar disorder.
  • Clinically significant, advanced, or unstable disease that may interfere with primary or secondary variable assessments and may affect the assessment of the patient's clinical or mental state, or expose the patient to special risk, such as:
    • Disability that may prevent the patient from completing all study requirements (e.g., blindness, deafness, severe language difficulties, etc.);
    • Opioid-containing analgesics
    • Suspected or known drug or alcohol abuse, i.e., more than about 60 g of alcohol (about 1 liter of beer or 500 ml of wine) per day, indicated by a high mean corpuscular volume (MCV) above the normal value at screening;
    • Any condition that, in the investigator's judgment, makes the patient unsuitable for inclusion

Lab values

  • Clinical, laboratory, or neuroimaging results consistent with:
    • other primary degenerative dementia (Lewy body dementia, frontotemporal dementia, Huntington's disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Down syndrome, etc.);
    • other neurodegenerative conditions (Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, etc.);
    • orthostatic hypotension and autonomic disorders
    • cerebrovascular disease (major infarction, a strategic infarction or multiple lacunar infarctions, extensive white matter lesions \> one quarter of total white matter);
    • other central nervous system diseases (severe traumatic brain injury, tumors, subdural hematoma, or other space-occupying processes, etc.);
    • seizure disorder.
    • Other infectious, metabolic, or systemic diseases affecting the central nervous system (syphilis, existing hypothyroidism, current vitamin B12 or folate deficiency, serum electrolytes outside normal limits, juvenile diabetes, etc.).

Who the study is looking for

  • Patients with a diagnosis of AD according to IWG criteria
  • 20 \> MMSE \< 28
  • Patients with CSF specific biomarker profile or with a positive Amyloid Pet Scan consistent with the presence of amyloid pathology
  • Global Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) ≤1
  • Previous decline in cognition for more than six months as documented in patient medical records
  • A caregiver available and living in the same household or interacting with the patient and available
  • Patients living at home or nursing home setting without continuous nursing care
  • General health status acceptable for a participation in a 6-month clinical trial
  • Stable pharmacological treatment for at least one month prior to screening
  • No regular intake of prohibited medications.
  • Signed informed consent by the patient. If there are any doubts that the patient is mentally capable of giving informed consent, the patient will be examined and verified to be mentally capable by an independent physician/ neurologist, prior to the initiation of any study specific procedure. Signed consent of the caregiver

Age in the registry: 50 years to 85 years · Sex: All · Does not accept healthy volunteers

Full criteria on ClinicalTrials.gov

Sites (2)

Sites in registry order. Pick your city on the disease page to sort them by distance.

SiteCityCountrySite status
I.R.C.C.S. Centro Neurolesi Bonino Pulejo
Coordinator of this site? Confirm its status
MessinaItalyNot yet recruiting
IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation
Coordinator of this site? Confirm its status
RomeItalyRecruiting

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This page is information, not medical advice. Discuss any trial with your doctor.