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

目的探讨重复经颅磁刺激（rTMS）治疗难治性抑郁症的疗效及其对神经认知功能的影响。受试者接受了应用于左背外侧前额叶皮层的rTMS（10 Hz，110%运动阈值，20个持续时间为5 s的训练，训练间隔为55 s，每次训练共1000个刺激，持续15 d）。半数受试者经rTMS治疗后汉密尔顿抑郁量表评分下降50%以上，且效果持续2个月。未观察到对威斯康星州卡片分类测试和正面评估组合测量的认知表现的不良影响。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3周的试验中没有认知能力的恶化。重复经颅磁刺激可能是治疗耐药抑郁症的有效方法。

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.