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Investigational and Therapeutic Applications of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Schizophrenia

  • Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders (AK Pandurangi, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Psychiatry Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose of Review

This current review summarizes the investigational and therapeutic applications of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in schizophrenia.

Recent Findings

Fairly consistent findings of an impaired cortical excitation-inhibition balance, cortical plasticity, and motor resonance have been reported in schizophrenia. Cortical connectivity impairments have also been demonstrated in motor and prefrontal brain regions. In terms of treatment, the best support is for 1-Hz TMS to the left temporoparietal cortex for the short-term treatment of persistent auditory hallucinations. High-frequency TMS to the left prefrontal cortex improves negative and cognitive symptoms, but with inconsistent and small effects.

Summary

TMS combined with diverse brain mapping techniques and clinical evaluation can unravel critical brain-behavior relationships relevant to schizophrenia. These provide critical support to the conceptualization of schizophrenia as a connectopathy with anomalous cortical plasticity. Adaptive modulation of these aberrant brain networks in a neuroscience-informed manner drives short-term therapeutic gains in difficult-to-treat symptoms of schizophrenia.

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Funding

UMM was supported by the Wellcome Trust/DBT India Alliance Early Career Fellowship, Grant/Award Number: IA/E/12/1/500755.

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  1. Department of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health & Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore, 560029, India

    Urvakhsh Meherwan Mehta, Shalini S. Naik, Milind Vijay Thanki & Jagadisha Thirthalli

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  1. Urvakhsh Meherwan Mehta
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  2. Shalini S. Naik
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  3. Milind Vijay Thanki
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Correspondence to Urvakhsh Meherwan Mehta.

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Urvakhsh Meherwan Mehta serves as an Associate Editor at Schizophrenia Research and receives an honorarium from Elsevier for the same.

Shalini S Naik, Milind Vijay Thanki, and Jagadisha Thirthalli each declare no potential conflicts of interest.

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Mehta, U.M., Naik, S.S., Thanki, M.V. et al. Investigational and Therapeutic Applications of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Schizophrenia. Curr Psychiatry Rep 21, 89 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-019-1076-2

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