Overnight Thalamic TES-TI to Modulate Sleep Spindles in Individuals With Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders and Matched Healthy Controls

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.

NCT Number	NCT07680114
Lead Sponsor	University of Wisconsin, Madison Collaborators: Alkermes, Inc.
Conditions	Schizophrenia
Enrollment	20 participants
Start Date	2026-08
Primary Completion	2027-12 (estimated)
Study Completion	2027-12 (estimated)
Updated on ClinicalTrials.gov	2026-08-10