Prefrontal Neuroplasticity and Coping Strategies in Healthy Population

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University40 enrolled

Overview

The current study serves as a pilot for the GRF project "Predicting illness trajectories in fully remitted major depression using concurrent TBS/fNIRS." The project examines whether intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS) induces immediate changes in prefrontal excitability in healthy individuals, compared to sham stimulation. In this randomized, sham-controlled trial, investigators will assess several psychological measures-including the Perceived Stress Scale and the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations-to explore how stress levels and coping strategies relate to immediate prefrontal cortex (PFC) activity changes following TBS.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

DOUBLE

Enrollment

Conditions

Health Adult Subjects

Interventions

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 YearsMax age: 60 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * 18-60 years old; Exclusion Criteria: * a family history of psychiatric disorders; * history of or currently diagnosed neuropsychiatric conditions; * history of or active systemic illnesses such as cancer, epilepsy, diabetes, hypertension, or other medical conditions; * contraindications to transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS); * any prior exposure to brain stimulation procedures.

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

iTBS induced prefrontal cortex activity and connectivity

Time frame: 3 minutes before, during, and after the stimulation

Secondary Outcomes

perceived stress scale

Time frame: the same day before conducting the experiment

coping inventory for stressful situations