Role of rTMS in the treatment of cognitive impairments in Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia: a review of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Journal of Affective Disorders
Domenico SciortinoPaolo Brambilla

Abstract

Schizophrenia (SCZ) and Bipolar Disorder (BD) are severe psychiatric illnesses often characterized by mild-to-severe cognitive deficits. Since available pharmacotherapy showed poor efficacy in treating these cognitive impairments, new strategies are needed. Repeated Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) represents a safe non-invasive technique that has been hypothesized to improve cognitive symptoms in these pathologies. Therefore, our brief review aims at summarizing the results of Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) using rTMS for improving cognitive symptoms in SCZ and BD. We performed a bibliographic research on PubMed, Google Scholar and Medline of RCTs conducted in patients with BD and SCZ, which evaluated cognitive outcomes after rTMS treatment. The inclusion criteria were met by fifteen RCTs, twelve in SCZ and three in BD. Regarding patients with SCZ, the results showed that rTMS seemed to have poor effects on improving cognitive performances, with mixed results also observed for schizoaffective patients. In BD, overall the RCTs showed that rTMS in these patients seemed to improve cognitive domains in euthymic patients, while its effect during acute phases, especially depression, appeared limited. Studies employed di...Continue Reading

Citations

Jul 22, 2021·Neuropsychopharmacology : Official Publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology·Jason SmucnyCameron S Carter
Aug 7, 2021·Psychiatry Research·Gerasimos N KonstantinouDaniel M Blumberger

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