Association between Mood and Sensation Seeking Following rTMS

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychology

Background:

• Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) studies on mood in healthy individuals yield inconsistent results.
• Inter-individual variability in prefrontal connectivity and personality traits may explain these discrepancies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of personality parameters on mood changes following prefrontal rTMS.
• To determine if personality traits mediate the effects of rTMS on mood.

Main Methods:

• A randomized cross-over design was employed with 17 healthy volunteers.
• Participants received three sessions of 1 Hz rTMS targeting Fz, F3, and T3 (control).
• Mood was assessed pre- and post-stimulation; personality was evaluated using NEO-FFI and Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS).

Main Results:

• A significant association was found between increased sensation-seeking scores and mood deterioration across all rTMS conditions.
• No significant differences in mood changes were observed between stimulation sites.
• No correlation was found between mood changes and NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) scores.

Conclusions:

• Sensation-seeking personality significantly impacts subjective mood alterations after prefrontal rTMS.
• Future rTMS research on emotional paradigms should incorporate sensation-seeking assessments to mitigate result variability.
• Personality-based subject pre-selection may enhance the reliability of rTMS studies.