Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42055586›Full record

Trial reportBMJ (Clinical research ed.)2026

Accelerated continuous theta burst stimulation targeting left primary motor cortex for children with autism spectrum disorder: multicentre randomised sham controlled trial.

Hangyu Tan, Tai Ren, Aihua Cao, Shuanfeng Fang, Lin Deng, Bo Hu, Mei Wang, Ye Cheng, Xi Zhang, Yawen Li and 13 more

Registry-linked trialAbstract readRandomized Controlled TrialMulticenter Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05927792 (Efficacy and Mechanism of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders), which is not on this map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT05927792 phase2 / phase3completednot on this map

Efficacy and Mechanism of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders: a Multicenter, Randomized Controlled Trial

TypeinterventionalSponsorXinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of MedicineRan2023 to 2024Enrolled200ConditionsAutism Spectrum DisorderArmsrepeated transcranial magnetic stimulation (continuous theta-burst stimulation), sham repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

23 authors.

Hangyu TanDepartment of Developmental and Behavioural Paediatric and Child Primary Care & Ministry of Education, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Children's Environmental Health, Xinhua Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Tai RenDepartment of Developmental and Behavioural Paediatric and Child Primary Care & Ministry of Education, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Children's Environmental Health, Xinhua Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Aihua CaoDepartment of Paediatrics, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China.
Shuanfeng FangDepartment of Developmental and Behavioural Paediatric & Child Primary Care, Zhengzhou Children's Hospital affiliated to Zhengzhou University, Henan Children's Hospital, Zhengzhou Children's Hospital, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.
Lin DengDepartment of Developmental and Behavioural Paediatric and Child Primary Care & Ministry of Education, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Children's Environmental Health, Xinhua Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Bo HuDepartment of Developmental and Behavioural Paediatric & Child Primary Care, Zhengzhou Children's Hospital affiliated to Zhengzhou University, Henan Children's Hospital, Zhengzhou Children's Hospital, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.
Mei WangDepartment of Paediatrics, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China.
Ye ChengDepartment of Developmental and Behavioural Paediatric & Child Primary Care, Zhengzhou Children's Hospital affiliated to Zhengzhou University, Henan Children's Hospital, Zhengzhou Children's Hospital, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.
Xi ZhangClinical Research and Innovation Unit, Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Yawen LiDepartment of Paediatrics, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China feili@shsmu.edu.cn.
Yixia ZhangDepartment of Developmental and Behavioural Paediatric & Child Primary Care, Zhengzhou Children's Hospital affiliated to Zhengzhou University, Henan Children's Hospital, Zhengzhou Children's Hospital, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.
Lingli ZhangDepartment of Developmental and Behavioural Paediatric and Child Primary Care & Ministry of Education, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Children's Environmental Health, Xinhua Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Luan ChenDepartment of Developmental and Behavioural Paediatric and Child Primary Care & Ministry of Education, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Children's Environmental Health, Xinhua Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Wei ZhouDepartment of Developmental and Behavioural Paediatric and Child Primary Care & Ministry of Education, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Children's Environmental Health, Xinhua Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Qianlong ZhangDepartment of Developmental and Behavioural Paediatric and Child Primary Care & Ministry of Education, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Children's Environmental Health, Xinhua Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Jiong LiDepartment of Developmental and Behavioural Paediatric and Child Primary Care & Ministry of Education, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Children's Environmental Health, Xinhua Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China feili@shsmu.edu.cn.
Xin ZhouDepartment of Developmental and Behavioural Paediatric and Child Primary Care & Ministry of Education, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Children's Environmental Health, Xinhua Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Christelle LangleyDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Qiang LuoInstitute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Ministry of Education-Key Laboratory of Computational Neuroscience and Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Jun ZhangDepartment of Developmental and Behavioural Paediatric and Child Primary Care & Ministry of Education, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Children's Environmental Health, Xinhua Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Barbara J SahakianDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Ti-Fei YuanShanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Brain Health Institute, National Center for Mental Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine and School of Psychology, Shanghai, China.
Fei LiDepartment of Developmental and Behavioural Paediatric and Child Primary Care & Ministry of Education, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Children's Environmental Health, Xinhua Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China feili@shsmu.edu.cn.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2455-4986

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesTo investigate the efficacy and safety of a five day accelerated continuous theta burst stimulation (a-cTBS) protocol in improving social communication impairment in children with autism spectrum disorder.

designMulticentre randomised sham controlled trial.

settingThree academic hospitals across three provinces in China, conducted from July 2023 to October 2024.

participants200 children aged 4-10 years with autism spectrum disorder (167 boys and 33 girls) all with a full scale intelligence quotient ≥50.

interventionsParticipants were randomised 1:1 to receive active a-cTBS (n=100) or sham (n=100) treatment stratified by full scale intelligence quotient (≥70 or <70) and study site. Participants received 10 sessions each day for five consecutive days, targeting the left primary motor cortex. Participants and evaluators were masked to interventions.

main outcome measuresTwo primary outcomes were assessed using the Social Responsiveness Scale, second edition (SRS-2): changes in social communication impairment from baseline to post-intervention and from baseline to one month follow-up. Primary analyses were conducted on a modified intention-to-treat population, including participants who received at least one stimulation session. Secondary outcomes included language improvements assessed from baseline to one month follow-up and changes in SRS-2 subscales.

resultsOf the 200 participants, 198 were included in the modified intention-to-treat analysis (99 in each group) and 193 completed the full intervention. Compared with the sham group, the a-cTBS group showed significantly greater reductions in SRS-2 scores post-intervention (-6.25, 95% confidence interval -8.69 to -3.81; Cohen's d -0.92; P<0.001) and at one month follow-up (-6.17, -8.65 to -3.70; -0.90; P<0.001). Secondary outcomes also favoured a-cTBS, with significant improvements observed in language abilities (Cohen's d 0.12-0.47; all P<0.02; measured by Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives). Reported adverse events were all mild to moderate and resolved without intervention.

conclusionsA five day a-cTBS protocol targeting the left primary motor cortex significantly improved social communication in children with autism spectrum disorder and showed a favourable safety profile. These findings support a-cTBS as a viable and scalable therapeutic option for children with autism spectrum disorder.

trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT05927792.

Indexed as

Autism Spectrum DisorderMotor CortexTranscranial Magnetic StimulationChildChild, PreschoolChinaFemaleHumansMaleTreatment Outcome

Identifiers

PMID42055586
PMCPMC13126859

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.