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Abstract

The main and best evidence-based indication to date to apply repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) in psychiatric disorders is major depression. Nevertheless, given that the high occurrence of major depressive disorders poses a major challenge for health systems worldwide, there is an urgent need for improving the clinical efficacy of the existing approved rTMS applications and promoting the development of effective rTMS treatment approaches. Besides providing an overview of the current evidence here, we discuss novel stimulation patterns, targets, and coils; combined treatments and maintenance; personalization and stratification of rTMS parameters; and the treatment of subpopulations.​

On behalf of the Scientific Committee of the European Conference on Brain Stimulation in Psychiatry.

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Acknowledgments

The Center for Research in Neuropsychology and Cognitive Behavioral Intervention of the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the University of Coimbra is supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and the Portuguese Ministry of Education and Science through national funds and co-financed by FEDER through COMPETE2020 under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement [UID/PSI/01662/2013]. This work was also supported by the German Center for Brain Stimulation (GCBS) research consortium (grant number 01EE1403), funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), and by a BOF16/GOA/017 grant for a Concerted Research Action of Ghent University (Belgium).

Financial support and sponsorship: None.

Conflicts of interest: CB, FP, and EP are members of the European Scientific Advisory Board of Brainsway Inc., Jerusalem, Israel. FP has received speaker’s honoraria from Mag&More GmbH and the neuroCare Group. His lab has received support with equipment from neuroConn GmbH, Ilmenau, Germany, and Mag&More GmbH and Brainsway Inc., Jerusalem, Israel. MA reports unpaid director and owner of Research Institute Brainclinics, a minority shareholder in neuroCare Group (Munich, Germany), and a coinventor on 4 patent applications related to EEG, neuromodulation and psychophysiology, but receives no royalties related to these patents; Research Institute Brainclinics received research funding from Brain Resource (Sydney, Australia) and neuroCare Group (Munich, Germany), and equipment support from Deymed, neuroConn, Brainsway, and Magventure.

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Brem, AK. et al. (2020). Depressive Disorders. In: Dell'Osso, B., Di Lorenzo, G. (eds) Non Invasive Brain Stimulation in Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43356-7_6

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