Deep transcranial magnetic stimulation for the treatment of auditory hallucinations: apreliminary open-label study

Journal: Annals of General Psychiatry 10:3 (2011)

Authors: O Rosenberg, Y Roth, M Kotler, A Zangen, P Dannon

Background:

Schizophrenia is a chronic and disabling disease that presents with delusions and hallucinations. Auditory hallucinations are usually expressed as voices speaking to or about the patient. Previous studies have examined the effect of repetitive transcranialmagnetic stimulation (TMS) over the temporoparietal cortex on auditory hallucinations in schizophrenic patients.

Objective:

To explore the potential effect of deep TMS, using the H coil over the temporoparietal cortex, on auditory hallucinations.

Methods:

Eight schizophrenic patients with refractory auditory hallucinations were recruited, mainly from Beer Yaakov Mental Health Institution (Tel Aviv university, Israel) ambulatory clinics, as well as from other hospitals outpatient populations. Low-frequency deep TMS was applied for 10 min (600 pulses per session) to the left temporoparietal cortex for either 10 or 20 sessions. Deep TMS was applied using BrainsWay’s H1 coil apparatus.Patients were evaluated using the Auditory Hallucinations Rating Scale (AHRS) as well as the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms scores (SAPS), Clinical Global Impressions (CGI) scale, and the Scale for Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS).

Results:

This preliminary study demonstrated a significant improvement in AHRS score (an average reduction of 31.7% ± 32.2%) and to a lesser extent improvement in SAPS results (an average reduction of 16.5% ± 20.3%).

Conclusions:

This study demonstratedthe potential of deep TMS treatment over the temporoparietal cortex as an add-on treatment for chronic auditory hallucinations in schizophrenic patients. Larger samples in a double-blind sham-controlleddesign are now being performed to evaluate the effectiveness of deep TMS treatment for auditory hallucinations.

Read full article