# Alternative Stimulation Mode and Location for Auditory Hallucination Neuromodulation Treatment

> **NIH NIH R61** · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCI CTR HOUSTON · 2024 · $565,921

## Abstract

Project summary: Current efforts to use rTMS to treat auditory hallucinations refractory to available
antipsychotic medications show promising efficacy but replicability of the effect in well-controlled clinical trials
remain unsatisfactory. The proposed study is to use a novel approach to design rTMS treatment for auditory
hallucination that is based on a strong neural circuitry mechanism on auditory hallucination formation. The
project will recruit patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders and randomize patients into active rTMS
versus sham rTMS groups followed by four fMRI based target engagement outcome assessments at baseline
and after 10, and 20 visits of daily rTMS plus a 2 week maintenance phase. The proposal will use new
stimulation site and stimulation mode combinations that are different from previous rTMS trials on auditory
hallucination, but are conceptualized to be more closely linked to neural circuitry mechanisms of auditory
halluciantion formation. The proposal will include two phases as two separate projects. The first proposed
project is a R61 for two years. If the Go/Nogo milestones are not met, the study will end. If all Go/Nogo
milestones are met, it will proceed to a R33 project for three more years. The trial will test the proposed
mechanism of action at brain circuitry level and determine whether the new stimulation site and mode strategy
will indeed significantly engage the proposed circuitry of action through modulating its functional connectivity in
the direction for improving auditory hallucination.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10951399
- **Project number:** 1R61MH128390-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCI CTR HOUSTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Shuo Chen
- **Activity code:** R61 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $565,921
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-03 → 2026-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10951399

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10951399, Alternative Stimulation Mode and Location for Auditory Hallucination Neuromodulation Treatment (1R61MH128390-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10951399. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*