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。受试者接受施加于左侧背外侧前额叶皮质的rTMS(10赫兹，110%运动阈值，20个训练，持续5秒，训练间隔55秒，导致每次训练总共1000个刺激，持续15天)。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，自研究结束起持续2个月。在威斯康星卡片分类测验和正面评估成套测验中，没有观察到对认知能力的不良影响。我们的结果表明，说话保守的rTMS可能具有有益的抗抑郁作用，并且在为期3周的试验中没有认知能力的恶化。重复的经颅磁刺激可能是一种有效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.