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Updated: Jun 10, 2026
MRI-guided dmPFC-rTMS as a Treatment for Treatment-resistant Major Depressive Disorder
Published on: August 11, 2015
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) as an augmentation treatment for the negative symptoms of
Alan L Schneider1, Terry L Schneider, Harry Stark
1Gateways Hospital and Mental Health Center, University of California-Los Angeles School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA 90026, USA. alsmd@roadrunner.com
Background:
In the absence of effective treatments for the negative symptom complex of schizophrenia, we explored the effect of 4 consecutive weeks of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) exposure (20 sessions) as an add-on treatment to atypical antipsychotics.
Methods:
Three groups of 17 schizophrenic subjects each were exposed to 20 treatments of either placebo, 1 Hz (100 pulses per day=2000 total) or 10 Hz (1000 pulses per day=20,000 total) rTMS at 110% motor threshold over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, while being maintained on their atypical antipsychotic. Subjects were evaluated at baseline, weeks 2 and 4, and at 4-week follow-up after the last treatment.
Results:
The primary outcome measure (change in Scale for Assessment of Negative Symptoms score) showed a statistically significant drop at weeks 2, 4, and 8 for the high frequency (10 Hz) group, but not the 1 Hz or placebo groups. Secondary outcome measures of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and SF-36 did not demonstrate any significant change.
Conclusions:
rTMS may serve as a relatively noninvasive treatment of the negative and neurocognitive deficits associated with schizophrenia.