Brain DiseasesNCT05065450
Amygdala Memory Enhancement
A study testing Intracranial Stimulation in people with Brain Diseases and Epilepsy, run by Washington University School of Medicine at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
The objective is to understand how amygdala activation affects other medial temporal lobe structures to prioritize long-term memories. The project is relevant to disorders of memory and to disorders involving affect and memory, including traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 to 75 years
- Conditions the study is for
- Brain Diseases, Epilepsy, Memory Disorders
- What is being tested?
- Intracranial Stimulation
- Type of treatment
- Medical device
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 90 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- 1 Nov 2021to 1 Nov 2027
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 to 75 years
- All sexes
- No healthy volunteers
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Must be able to understand and speak English.
- Able to provide informed consent.
- Diagnosed with epilepsy.
- Scheduled to undergo long-term intra-cranial video monitoring for seizure onset localization.
- Must be implanted with intracranial depth electrodes to the left or right amygdala, hippocampus, and parahippocampal/perirhinal cortices.
Who cannot join
- Unable to understand and speak English.
- Unable to provide informed consent.
- Not diagnosed with epilepsy.
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
United States1 site, 1 recruiting
- Recruiting
Washington University School of Medicine
St Louis, Missouri, 63110
Joan Atencio, 314-362-3114, atencio@wustl.edu
Jon T Willie, MD, PhD
About this study
Official title: Mechanisms of Amygdala-Mediated Memory Enhancement in Humans
The objective is to understand how amygdala activation affects other medial temporal lobe structures to prioritize long-term memories. The project is relevant to disorders of memory and to disorders involving affect and memory, including traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Read the detailed description
Direct electrical stimulation (DES) of the basolateral complex of the amygdala (BLA) can improve declarative memory, reflecting the role of the BLA in modulating memory processes in medial temporal lobe (MTL) regions as a function of emotional arousal. Thus, DES can reveal mechanisms of BLA-mediated memory enhancement relevant to human mental health and disease. DES of the BLA can be used to interrogate the function of memory circuits, especially how neuronal oscillations in the MTL support declarative memory. First, BLA is hypothesized to wield the capacity to prioritize long-term retention of information initially encountered adjacent in time over days and weeks after encoding. Second, the BLA preferentially projects to anterior MTL regions and thus is hypothesized to preferentially modulate memory processes in those anatomic regions, processes thought to support memory for non-spatial items more so than memory for spatial locations. Third, although emotional arousal, amygdala activity, MTL activity, and memory performance are typically correlated, the investigators hypothesize that DES will reveal that BLA outputs to other MTL regions cause improved memory performance by directly eliciting pro-memory oscillatory states in those networks. The expected outcomes represent a significant advancement for the basic science of normal memory function and significant movement towards novel therapeutics designed to emulate endogenous mechanisms of memory enhancement.
- Conditions
- Brain Diseases, Epilepsy, Memory Disorders, Traumatic Brain Injury, Cognitive Impairment, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Being tested
- Intracranial Stimulation
- Medical subject headings
- Brain Diseases, Epilepsy, Memory Disorders, Brain Injuries, Traumatic, Cognitive Dysfunction, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Intracranial StimulationDevice
Also called Device: ACTIVE basal lateral amygdala electrical stimulation (Active-BLAES), Device: SHAM basal lateral amygdala electrical stimulation (Sham-BLAES)
Electrodes localized to the BLA will be stimulated with either active-BLAES (0.5-3.5 mA, theta-modulated gamma burst) electrical stimulation for a 1-sec duration immediately following item image presentation or sham-BLAES (zero-amplitude). At later stages of the project, stimulation parameters and timing will be varied and triggered not at random, but by real-time closed-loop analysis of memory biomarkers in the medial temporal lobe.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Brain Stimulation | Experimental | Neurosurgical epilepsy patients that undergo placement of medial temporal electrode for seizure localizations will be recruited. All participants will view a series of images of emotionally-neutral objects on a computer screen. After each item presentation, they will randomly undergo either active-BLAES or sham-stimulation. Over subsequent days, free recall and recognition memory for these items, relative to new distractor items will be tested. Memory for items presented with and without stimulation will be compared. Brain activity recorded in the medial temporal lobe during item presentations will be used to predict subsequent memory. Such good and bad memory states (biomarkers) will be used to perform closed-loop stimulation when bad memory states are detected in order to enhance subsequent memory. Receives: Device: Intracranial Stimulation |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Free recall memory discriminability index (proportion recalled)
Proportion of items (objects, associations, and scenes) accurately recalled during the delayed recall trial will be compared with and without BLAES for each participant in a within subject design. Subsets of items may be tested after durations up to a month after initial presentation.
Measured: 5 years
Recognition memory discriminability index (proportion recalled)
Proportion of items (objects, associations, and scenes) accurately recognized during the delayed recognition trial will be compared with and without BLAES for each participant in a within subject design. Subsets of items may be tested after durations up to a month after initial presentation.
Measured: 5 years
Secondary outcomes (5)
Location of single pulse evoked potential (SPEP) response to amygdala stimulation
Measured by presence of the evoked potential in different brain subregions (hippocampus, entorhinal cortex, perirhinal cortex, and parahippocampal cortex).
Measured: 5 years
Amplitude of SPEP response to amygdala stimulation
Measured in microvolts.
Measured: 5 years
Latency of SPEP response to amygdala stimulation
Measured in milliseconds.
Measured: 5 years
Local field potential (LFP) of good memory state
Measured by relative power spectral frequency recorded at time of item presentation that predicts accurate subsequent memory performance.
Measured: 5 years
LFP of bad memory state
Measured by relative power spectral frequency recorded at the time of item presentation that predicts inaccurate subsequent memory performance
Measured: 5 years
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted4 Oct 2021
- Study start1 Nov 2021
- Primary completion1 Nov 2026 (estimated)
- Study completion1 Nov 2027 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Publications (5)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for Brain DiseasesStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by Washington University School of MedicineThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Not applicable
- Intervention model
- Single group
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 90 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Washington University School of Medicine
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT05065450
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 202104033
- Status last verified
- Jul 2025
- First submitted
- 17 Aug 2021
- Last updated
- 17 Jul 2025
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- Yes
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- Yes
- Individual data sharing
- No
Publications
Inman CS, Manns JR, Bijanki KR, Bass DI, Hamann S, Drane DL, Fasano RE, Kovach CK, Gross RE, Willie JT. Direct electrical stimulation of the amygdala enhances declarative memory in humans. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018 Jan 2;115(1):98-103. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1714058114. Epub 2017 Dec 18.
PubMed 29255054Manns JR, Bass DI. The amygdala and prioritization of declarative memories. Curr Dir Psychol Sci. 2016 Aug;25(4):261-265. doi: 10.1177/0963721416654456.
PubMed 27721578Bass DI, Manns JR. Memory-enhancing amygdala stimulation elicits gamma synchrony in the hippocampus. Behav Neurosci. 2015 Jun;129(3):244-56. doi: 10.1037/bne0000052.
PubMed 26030426Bass DI, Nizam ZG, Partain KN, Wang A, Manns JR. Amygdala-mediated enhancement of memory for specific events depends on the hippocampus. Neurobiol Learn Mem. 2014 Jan;107:37-41. doi: 10.1016/j.nlm.2013.10.020. Epub 2013 Nov 8.
PubMed 24211699Bass DI, Partain KN, Manns JR. Event-specific enhancement of memory via brief electrical stimulation to the basolateral complex of the amygdala in rats. Behav Neurosci. 2012 Feb;126(1):204-8. doi: 10.1037/a0026462. Epub 2011 Dec 5.
PubMed 22141467
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 17 Jul 2025. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Mechanisms of Amygdala-Mediated Memory Enhancement in Humans
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT05065450
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- 202104033
- Conditions
- Brain Diseases, Epilepsy, Memory Disorders, Traumatic Brain Injury, Cognitive Impairment, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Recruiting
- Enrolment
- 90 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- Washington University School of MedicineUniversity, hospital or other
- Study start
- 1 Nov 2021 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 1 Nov 2026 (estimated)
- Study completion
- 1 Nov 2027 (estimated)
- First posted
- 4 Oct 2021 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
The objective is to understand how amygdala activation affects other medial temporal lobe structures to prioritize long-term memories. The project is relevant to disorders of memory and to disorders involving affect and memory, including traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Detailed description
Direct electrical stimulation (DES) of the basolateral complex of the amygdala (BLA) can improve declarative memory, reflecting the role of the BLA in modulating memory processes in medial temporal lobe (MTL) regions as a function of emotional arousal. Thus, DES can reveal mechanisms of BLA-mediated memory enhancement relevant to human mental health and disease. DES of the BLA can be used to interrogate the function of memory circuits, especially how neuronal oscillations in the MTL support declarative memory. First, BLA is hypothesized to wield the capacity to prioritize long-term retention of information initially encountered adjacent in time over days and weeks after encoding. Second, the BLA preferentially projects to anterior MTL regions and thus is hypothesized to preferentially modulate memory processes in those anatomic regions, processes thought to support memory for non-spatial items more so than memory for spatial locations. Third, although emotional arousal, amygdala activity, MTL activity, and memory performance are typically correlated, the investigators hypothesize that DES will reveal that BLA outputs to other MTL regions cause improved memory performance by directly eliciting pro-memory oscillatory states in those networks. The expected outcomes represent a significant advancement for the basic science of normal memory function and significant movement towards novel therapeutics designed to emulate endogenous mechanisms of memory enhancement.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Not applicable
- Intervention model
- Single group
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 1
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Brain Stimulation | Experimental | Device: Intracranial StimulationNeurosurgical epilepsy patients that undergo placement of medial temporal electrode for seizure localizations will be recruited. All participants will view a series of images of emotionally-neutral objects on a computer screen. After each item presentation, they will randomly undergo either active-BLAES or sham-stimulation. Over subsequent days, free recall and recognition memory for these items, relative to new distractor items will be tested. Memory for items presented with and without stimulation will be compared. Brain activity recorded in the medial temporal lobe during item presentations will be used to predict subsequent memory. Such good and bad memory states (biomarkers) will be used to perform closed-loop stimulation when bad memory states are detected in order to enhance subsequent memory. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 to 75 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (5 listed)
- Must be able to understand and speak English.
- Able to provide informed consent.
- Diagnosed with epilepsy.
- Scheduled to undergo long-term intra-cranial video monitoring for seizure onset localization.
- Must be implanted with intracranial depth electrodes to the left or right amygdala, hippocampus, and parahippocampal/perirhinal cortices.
Key exclusion criteria (3 listed)
- Unable to understand and speak English.
- Unable to provide informed consent.
- Not diagnosed with epilepsy.
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Intracranial StimulationAlso: Device: ACTIVE basal lateral amygdala electrical stimulation (Active-BLAES), Device: SHAM basal lateral amygdala electrical stimulation (Sham-BLAES)Electrodes localized to the BLA will be stimulated with either active-BLAES (0.5-3.5 mA, theta-modulated gamma burst) electrical stimulation for a 1-sec duration immediately following item image presentation or sham-BLAES (zero-amplitude). At later stages of the project, stimulation parameters and timing will be varied and triggered not at random, but by real-time closed-loop analysis of memory biomarkers in the medial temporal lobe. | Device | Brain Stimulation |
Primary outcome
Free recall memory discriminability index (proportion recalled)
Time frame: 5 years
Proportion of items (objects, associations, and scenes) accurately recalled during the delayed recall trial will be compared with and without BLAES for each participant in a within subject design. Subsets of items may be tested after durations up to a month after initial presentation.
Recognition memory discriminability index (proportion recalled)
Time frame: 5 years
Proportion of items (objects, associations, and scenes) accurately recognized during the delayed recognition trial will be compared with and without BLAES for each participant in a within subject design. Subsets of items may be tested after durations up to a month after initial presentation.
5 secondary outcomes
Location of single pulse evoked potential (SPEP) response to amygdala stimulation
Time frame: 5 years
Amplitude of SPEP response to amygdala stimulation
Time frame: 5 years
Latency of SPEP response to amygdala stimulation
Time frame: 5 years
Local field potential (LFP) of good memory state
Time frame: 5 years
LFP of bad memory state
Time frame: 5 years
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 17 Jul 2025.
- Background: PubMed 29255054Inman CS, Manns JR, Bijanki KR, Bass DI, Hamann S, Drane DL, Fasano RE, Kovach CK, Gross RE, Willie JT. Direct electrical stimulation of the amygdala enhances declarative memory in humans. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018 Jan 2;115(1):98-103. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1714058114. Epub 2017 Dec 18.
- Background: PubMed 27721578Manns JR, Bass DI. The amygdala and prioritization of declarative memories. Curr Dir Psychol Sci. 2016 Aug;25(4):261-265. doi: 10.1177/0963721416654456.
- Background: PubMed 26030426Bass DI, Manns JR. Memory-enhancing amygdala stimulation elicits gamma synchrony in the hippocampus. Behav Neurosci. 2015 Jun;129(3):244-56. doi: 10.1037/bne0000052.
- Background: PubMed 24211699Bass DI, Nizam ZG, Partain KN, Wang A, Manns JR. Amygdala-mediated enhancement of memory for specific events depends on the hippocampus. Neurobiol Learn Mem. 2014 Jan;107:37-41. doi: 10.1016/j.nlm.2013.10.020. Epub 2013 Nov 8.
- Background: PubMed 22141467Bass DI, Partain KN, Manns JR. Event-specific enhancement of memory via brief electrical stimulation to the basolateral complex of the amygdala in rats. Behav Neurosci. 2012 Feb;126(1):204-8. doi: 10.1037/a0026462. Epub 2011 Dec 5.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part.
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Intracranial Stimulation in people with Brain Diseases and Epilepsy, run by Washington University School of Medicine at 1 site in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 5 inclusion and 3 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: looking for participants now, as of the sponsor's last update on 17 Jul 2025. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
Contact Joan Atencio (314-362-3114, atencio@wustl.edu), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Free recall memory discriminability index (proportion recalled) (time frame: 5 years). The study lists 2 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT05065450, which also lists 5 linked publications.
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 17 Jul 2025.