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NCT05716906

Melatonin and Sleep Spindles in Autism

Active, enrolled NA Last updated 10 September 2025
What this trial tests

NA trial testing Melatonin in Autism Spectrum Disorder in 30 participants. Participants enrolled and being followed up; not accepting new ones.

Timeline
11 January 2023
Primary endpoint
5 June 2024
31 December 2025

Quick facts

Lead sponsorMassachusetts General Hospital
PhaseNA
StatusActive, enrolled
Study typeINTERVENTIONAL
Allocationna
Designsingle group
Maskingnone
Primary purposebasic science
Enrollment30
Start date11 January 2023
Primary completion5 June 2024
Estimated completion31 December 2025
Sites1 location across United States

Drugs / interventions tested

Conditions studied

Sponsor

Massachusetts General Hospital

Who can join

Adults 12 to 18, any sex, with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

Sleep disturbances and sensory sensitivities are common disabling features of autism, but their underlying causes are not clear. We hypothesize that both of these difficulties reflect disrupted communication between a deep brain structure, the thalamus, and the brain's outer layer, the cortex. This communication is mediated by the thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN). Due to its small size and location deep in the brain, we cannot assess TRN function without invasive techniques. Fortunately, sleep spindles, a specific brain rhythm provide a noninvasive read-out of TRN function. In Aim 1 we will examine whether reduced sleep spindles are related to worse sleep quality, impaired selective attention during wake, and sensory sensitivities in children with autism. In Aim 2, we will determine whether melatonin, which is commonly used to improve sleep, also increases sleep spindles in autism. If successful, this study will introduce TRN as a target for treatment of sleep disruption and guide larger home-based sleep studies.

Publications & conference data

No peer-reviewed publications indexed yet for this trial.

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Other trials of Melatonin

Trials testing the same drug.

Other recruiting trials for Autism Spectrum Disorder

Currently open trials in the same condition.

Other Massachusetts General Hospital trials

Trials by the same sponsor.

Verify against primary sources

Data sources for this page

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