publications
Researching the future of brain-based mental health care
Wave supports and contributes to a growing body of scientific research exploring the future of brain-based mental health care.
Our research library includes both independent publications and Wave-sponsored clinical studies focused on advancing the science of personalized neuromodulation and improving our understanding of how individualized brain-based interventions may support mental health outcomes.
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Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation at the Individual Alpha Frequency Shows Potential Value in Improving Working Memory in Healthy Participants
Date published
May 2026
Publication
Brain and Behavior
Authors
Wang Z, Gao Y, Han M, Hu L, Wang K
Key Takeaways
- Single-blind, randomized, crossover controlled trial: tACS at the individual alpha frequency (IAF) over left posterior parietal cortex versus IAF−1 Hz and sham, with simultaneous EEG.
- IAF stimulation specifically improved high-load (3-back) working memory, increasing P200 and P300 amplitudes in frontocentral regions (p=0.009–0.025).
- P300 increases correlated with faster reaction times (r=−0.677, p=0.001); the IAF−1 Hz and sham conditions showed no such effects.
- Even a 1 Hz deviation from the individually correct frequency erased the benefit — precision of the personalized rate is functionally meaningful.
Personalized fMRI-Guided TMS Targeting the Threat Neurocircuitry in PTSD: A Randomized Clinical Trial
Date published
May 2026
Publication
American Journal of Psychiatry
Authors
van Rooij SJH, Langhinrichsen-Rohling R, Minton ST, Hinojosa CA, Lukemire J, Lipschutz R, Hinrichs R, Merrill N, Ely TD, Dahlgren K, Sompolpong P, Job G, Riva-Posse P, Holtzheimer PE, Calhoun VD, Camprodon JA, Rauch SAM, Kaslow NJ, Ressler KJ, Jovanovic T, McDonald WM
Key Takeaways
- Double-blind randomized trial: 50 adults with PTSD symptoms received 10 twice-daily sessions of personalized fMRI-guided 1 Hz TMS (right-DLPFC target with the strongest functional connection to the right amygdala) or sham.
- Active TMS significantly reduced right amygdala threat reactivity versus sham — direct evidence of engaging the targeted circuit.
- From pre-treatment to 3–6-month follow-up, active TMS significantly reduced hyperarousal and total PTSD symptoms versus sham; findings robust in sensitivity analyses.
- First trial demonstrating that personalized, imaging-guided TMS improves long-term PTSD outcomes — independent convergence on personalization as the path forward in PTSD.
Personalizing Brain Stimulation for Psychiatric Disorders: From Circuits to Closed-Loop Control
Date published
March 2026
Publication
American Journal of Psychiatry
Authors
Cline CC, Keller CJ
Key Takeaways
- State-of-the-field overview in the American Journal of Psychiatry: despite two decades of clinical use, standard TMS response rates remain around 50% at one month — substantial room for improvement.
- Traces the translational path from invasive circuit-level insights through noninvasive biomarkers to clinical deployment, including stimulation parameter tuning, state-dependent approaches, and closed-loop systems.
- Concludes that biomarker-guided personalization is interventional psychiatry's pathway to precision medicine — the scientific premise on which the MeRT system is built.
Oscillatory brain state-dependent stimulation with transcranial magnetic stimulation combined with electroencephalography
Date published
February 2026
Publication
Nature Protocols
Authors
Zrenner C, Belardinelli P, Ziemann U
Key Takeaways
- Nature Protocols methods paper from the field's leading real-time EEG-TMS group: step-by-step procedure for millisecond-precise TMS synchronized to oscillatory brain states measured by EEG.
- Summarizes initial evidence that oscillatory state-dependent EEG-TMS induces long-term plasticity more effectively than conventional TMS uncoupled from instantaneous brain state.
- Explicitly frames the goal as 'personalizing therapeutic brain stimulation by coupling it to specific physiological or pathological brain states.'
- Formalizes EEG-coupled personalized stimulation as a reproducible method — the direction of travel for the entire field.
Advancing TMS for PTSD — From networks to individuals
Date published
August 2025
Publication
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
Authors
Sompolpong P, van Rooij SJH
Key Takeaways
- Review of the state of TMS for PTSD arguing the field must move 'from networks to individuals' — from group-level protocols toward person-level targeting and parameters.
- Synthesizes why heterogeneous PTSD neurobiology limits one-size-fits-all stimulation and how individualized approaches address it.
- Independent articulation of the individualization thesis in the specific indication where MeRT holds the first personalized-TMS clearance.
Alpha-Frequency Stimulation Enhances Synchronization of Alpha Oscillations with Default Mode Network Connectivity
Date published
March 2025
Publication
eNeuro
Authors
Ma Y, Brown JA, Chen C, Ding M, Wu W, Li W
Key Takeaways
- Simultaneous EEG-fMRI before and after alpha-frequency transcranial alternating current stimulation (α-tACS).
- α-tACS tightened the dynamic coupling between spontaneous alpha-power fluctuations and default mode network connectivity, especially in the posterior DMN (posterior cingulate to bilateral angular gyrus).
- No significant changes in other frequency bands or major networks — the effect is alpha-specific.
- Alpha-frequency stimulation is a noninvasive lever on the DMN, a clinically significant network implicated across depression, PTSD, and cognition that is otherwise difficult to target.
Does 18 Hz deep TMS benefit a different subgroup of depressed patients relative to 10 Hz rTMS? The role of the individual alpha frequency
Date published
December 2024
Publication
European Neuropsychopharmacology
Authors
Voetterl H, Alyagon U, Middleton VJ, Downar J, Zangen A, Sack AT, van Dijk H, Halloran A, Donachie N, Arns M
Key Takeaways
- Compared individual alpha frequency (IAF) against outcome across two FDA-approved protocols: 18 Hz deep TMS (N=114) versus 10 Hz rTMS (N=72) for depression.
- Robust quadratic effect: patients with IAF near 9 Hz improved least on 18 Hz (r²=0.126, p<.001); improvement rose with IAF distance from 10 Hz (p=.003), with a significant IAF-by-protocol interaction (p=.026).
- 10 Hz and 18 Hz protocols benefit different, EEG-identifiable subgroups of depressed patients.
- Extends alpha-based stratification across approved TMS protocols: the choice of stimulation frequency should follow the patient's EEG, not convention.
EEG-based biomarkers predict individual differences in TMS-induced entrainment of intrinsic brain rhythms
Date published
March 2024
Publication
Brain Stimulation
Authors
Trajkovic J, Sack AT, Romei V
Key Takeaways
- Modeled each individual's 'Arnold tongue' — the range of frequencies that can capture their brain's oscillation — from resting-state alpha spectral parameters.
- The height of the at-rest alpha curve predicted amplitude entrainment during stimulation at the individual alpha frequency; curve width predicted success in shifting the rhythm faster or slower (IAF±1 Hz)
- Explains the between-patient variability that plagues fixed-frequency rhythmic-TMS studies.
- Provides a resting-EEG biomarker framework for building 'optimal and personalized rh-TMS protocols' — individualized both in frequency and in expected responsiveness.