Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 13, 2025
Transcranial Pulse Stimulation for Alzheimer's Patients
Published on: April 4, 2025
Transcranial magnetic stimulation for sleep disorders in Alzheimer's disease: A double-blind, randomized, and
Xiao Zhou1, Yu Wang2, Shuang Lv2
1Department of Neurology, Graduate School of Peking Union Medical College and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China; Department of Neurology, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, China.
Background:
Sleep disorders are commonly comorbid with Alzheimer's disease (AD), And these disorders interfere with each other in many aspects. To date, pharmacological treatments for sleep disorders are still limited, and studies investigating repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) for sleep disorders in AD are still lacking.
Method:
A single-center, randomized, double-blind, parallel-arm, and sham-controlled pilot study was conducted in AD patients with sleep disorders. Seventy subjects were randomly divided into the following two groups: the sham group (SG) and the intervention group (IG). We evaluated sleep changes using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) before and after the intervention. We also assessed the patients' cognitive function by the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive section (ADAS-Cog). The intervention period was four weeks, and the patients were followed up in the 8th week to test the persistence of the effect of the rTMS intervention.
Result:
Significant differences in the PSQI scores were found between the SG and IG at the end of the 4-week intervention (P = 0.001) and the 8-week follow-up (P < 0.001). There was also significant improvement in ADAS-Cog scores (4 weeks: P = 0.048, 8 weeks: P = 0.038). Activities of daily living (ADL) did not significantly differ between the SG and IG.
Conclusion:
rTMS can effectively ameliorate sleep disorders in AD patients.
