Schizophrenia Daily News Blog

Study: r TMS for Schizophrenia

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) reduces auditory hallucination rate and severity

More good news on transcranial magnetic stimulation for treatment of schizophrenia. A new researchs study out of Korea further suggests that Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) reduces the frequency and severity of schizophrenia-related auditory hallucinations.

In the study that was recently published, brain researchers in South Korea evaluated the effects of rTMS "on the left and right temporoparietal cortex compared with sham stimulation" in a group of schizophrenics with treatment-refractory .

"Thirty-nine patients with schizophrenia and treatment-refractory AH were allocated randomly to one of three groups: daily left, right, and sham rTMS groups," explained S.H. Lee and coauthors at the Catholic University of Korea. After randomization, "rTMS was applied to the TP3 or -4 regions with the aid of the electroencephalography 10-20 international system at 1 Hz for 20 min per day for 10 treatment days."

"Symptoms were evaluated using the Auditory Hallucination Rating Scale (AHRS), the Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale (PANSS), and the Clinical Global Impression-Severity (CGI-S) and Clinical Global Impression-Improvement(CGI-I) scales," the report stated.

"This study suggests that 10 days of low-frequency rTMS applied daily for 20 min to either temporoparietal cortex significantly reduces the symptoms in patients with schizophrenia who are having refractory auditory hallucinations, but the left-sided rTMS is not superior to right or sham rTMS," the researchers concluded.

Source:
(A double blind study showing that two weeks of daily repetitive TMS over the left or right temporoparietal cortex reduces symptoms in patients with schizophrenia who are having treatment-refractory auditory hallucinations. Neurosci Lett, 2005;376(3):177-181).