Efficacy of slow-rate repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in the treatment of depression.

探讨重复经颅磁刺激（rTMS）治疗难治性抑郁症的抗抑郁疗效及其对神经认知功能的影响。参与者接受施加于左背外侧前额叶皮层的rTMS （10 Hz， 110%运动阈值，20次持续5秒的训练，间隔55秒，每次训练共1000次刺激，持续15天）。半数受试者经rTMS治疗后汉密尔顿抑郁量表得分下降50%以上，且效果持续2个月。威斯康辛卡片分类测验和正面评估测验对认知表现无不良影响。我们的研究结果表明，保守地说，rTMS可能具有有益的抗抑郁作用，并且在为期3周的试验中没有导致认知能力的恶化。反复经颅磁刺激可能是一种有用的辅助治疗耐药抑郁症患者。

We investigated the antidepressant efficacy and its effect on neurocognitive function of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in the treatment of refractory depression. Participants received rTMS applied to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (10 Hz, 110% motor threshold, 20 trains of 5 seconds' duration with a 55-second intertrain interval, resulting in a total of 1000stimuli per session for 15 days). Half number of the participants showed a decrease of more than 50% in Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression score after rTMS treatment, and the effect lasted 2 months from the end of the study periods. No adverse effects were observed on cognitive performance measured by Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and Frontal Assessment Battery. Our results demonstrate that rTMS, conservatively spoken, might have beneficial antidepressant effects and had no deterioration of cognitive performance in a 3-week trial. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation may be a useful adjunctive treatment for drug-resistant depressed patients.