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Double-blind, randomized sham controlled study of deep-TMS add-on treatment for negative symptoms and cognitive deficits in schizophrenia

Negative symptoms and cognitive deficits are considered core symptoms of schizophrenia, yet treatment for them remains inadequate. Deep-transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a novel technology that enables non-invasive stimulation of deep layers of the prefrontal cortex. Preliminary evidence suggests that deep-TMS could be effective in the treatment of negative symptoms and cognitive deficits. The current study is the first double-blind, randomized sham-controlled study to examine the feasibility of deep-TMS add-on treatment for negative symptoms and cognitive deficits in schizophrenia. Twenty daily H1 deep-TMS treatments (20Hz, 120% MT) were delivered, in a double-blind, randomized sham-controlled design (n=30). Extensive clinical and cognitive assessments were carried out throughout the study and for an additional one month follow-up period. The results indicate that at the end of the treatment period, negative symptoms (as indicated by the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS)) significantly reduced in the TMS group (–7.7), but not in the sham group (–1.9). Differences between the groups were not statistically significant.