Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-b6zl4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-27T05:09:50.775Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Quantitative review of the efficacy of slow-frequency magnetic brain stimulation in major depressive disorder

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 January 2010

D. J. L. G. Schutter
D. J. L. G. Schutter*
Affiliation:
Experimental Psychology, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
*
*Address for correspondence: D. J. L. G. Schutter, Ph.D., Experimental Psychology, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 2, 3584CS Utrecht, The Netherlands. (Email: d.schutter@uu.nl)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

Slow-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to the frontal cortex has been suggested as a safer and better tolerable alternative to fast-frequency rTMS in the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD). The aim of the present study was to examine the efficacy of slow-frequency rTMS to the frontal cortex in MDD.

Method

A literature search was carried out in the databases PubMed and Web of Science in the period between January 1994 and July 2009 with the search terms ‘depression’ and ‘transcranial magnetic stimulation’. Nine double-blind sham-controlled parallel intention-to-treat studies (252 patients) fulfilled inclusion criteria and were entered in a random-effects meta-analysis.

Results

The test for heterogeneity was not significant (QT=9.63, p=0.38). An overall weighted moderate mean effect size (d=0.63, 95% confidence interval=0.03–1.24) for active treatment was observed.

Conclusions

The findings suggest that slow-frequency rTMS to the frontal cortex is more effective than sham treatment and may be equally effective as fast-frequency rTMS in the treatment of MDD.

Keywords

Efficacyfrontal cortexmajor depressive disordertranscranial magnetic stimulationtreatment
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 40 , Issue 11 , November 2010 , pp. 1789 - 1795
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Avery, DH, Holtzheimer, PE 3rd, Fawaz, W, Russo, J, Neumaier, J, Dunner, DL, Haynor, DR, Claypoole, KH, Wajdik, C, Roy-Byrne, P (2006). A controlled study of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in medication-resistant major depression. Biological Psychiatry 59, 187–194.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Couturier, JL (2005). Efficacy of rapid-rate repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in the treatment of depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience 30, 83–90.Google ScholarPubMed
Dunlop, BW, Nemeroff, CB (2007). The role of dopamine in the pathophysiology of depression. Archives of General Psychiatry 64, 327–337.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fadini, T, Matthäus, L, Rothkegel, H, Sommer, M, Tergau, F, Schweikard, A, Paulus, W, Nitsche, MA (2009). H-coil: induced electric field properties and input/output curves on healthy volunteers, comparison with a standard figure-of-eight coil. Clinical Neurophysiology 120, 1174–1182.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fitzgerald, PB, Benitez, J, de Castella, A, Daskalakis, ZJ, Brown, TL, Kulkarni, J (2006). A randomized, controlled trial of sequential bilateral repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for treatment-resistant depression. American Journal of Psychiatry 163, 88–94.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fitzgerald, PB, Brown, TL, Marston, NA, Daskalakis, ZJ, de Castella, A, Kulkarni, J (2003). Transcranial magnetic stimulation in the treatment of depression: a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Archives of General Psychiatry 60, 1002–1008.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fitzgerald, PB, Hoy, K, McQueen, S, Herring, S, Segrave, R, Been, G, Kulkarni, J, Daskalakis, ZJ (2008). Priming stimulation enhances the effectiveness of low-frequency right prefrontal cortex transcranial magnetic stimulation in major depression. Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology 28, 52–58.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
George, MS, Wassermann, EM, Williams, WA, Callahan, A, Ketter, TA, Basser, P, Hallett, M, Post, RM (1995). Daily repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) improves mood in depression. Neuroreport 6, 1853–1856.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Grisaru, N, Yeroslavsky, U, Abrabanel, J, Lamberg, T, Belmaker, RH (1994). Transcranial magnetic stimulation in depression and schizophrenia. European Neuropsychopharmacology 4, 287–288.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hallett, M (2001). Transcranial magnetic stimulation and the human brain. Nature 406, 147–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harmon-Jones, E (2003). Clarifying the emotive functions of asymmetrical frontal cortical activity. Psychophysiology 40, 838–848.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hedges, LV, Olkin, I (1985). Statistical Methods for Meta-Analysis. Academic Press: Orlando, FL.Google Scholar
Höflich, G, Kasper, S, Hufnagel, A, Ruhrmann, S, Möller, HJ (1993). Application of transcranial magnetic stimulation in treatment of drug-resistant major depression: a report of two cases. Human Psychopharmacology 8, 361–365.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Höppner, J, Schulz, M, Irmisch, G, Mau, R, Schläfke, D, Richter, J (2003). Antidepressant efficacy of two different rTMS procedures. High frequency over left versus low frequency over right prefrontal cortex compared with sham stimulation. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience 253, 103–109.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Huang, CC, Wei, IH, Chou, YH, Su, TP (2008). Effect of age, gender, menopausal status, and ovarian hormonal level on rTMS in treatment-resistant depression. Psychoneuroendocrinology 33, 821–831.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Huang, YZ, Edwards, MJ, Bhatia, KP, Rothwell, JC (2005). Theta burst stimulation of the human motor cortex. Neuron 45, 201–206.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Iyer, MB, Schleper, N, Wassermann, EM (2003). Priming stimulation enhances the depressant effect of low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation. Journal of Neuroscience 23, 10867–10872.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Januel, D, Dumortier, G, Verdon, CM, Stamatiadis, L, Saba, G, Cabaret, W, Benadhira, R, Rocamora, JF, Braha, S, Kalalou, K, Vicaut, PE, Fermanian, J (2006). A double-blind sham controlled study of right prefrontal repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS): therapeutic and cognitive effect in medication free unipolar depression during 4 weeks. Progress in Neuropsychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry 30, 126–130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kauffmann, CD, Cheema, MA, Miller, BE (2004). Slow right prefrontal transcranial magnetic stimulation as a treatment for medication-resistant depression: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Depression and Anxiety 19, 59–62.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kimbrell, TA, Little, JT, Dunn, RT, Frye, MA, Greenberg, BD, Wassermann, EM, Repella, JD, Danielson, AL, Willis, MW, Benson, BE, Speer, AM, Osuch, E, George, MS, Post, RM (1999). Frequency dependence of antidepressant response to left prefrontal repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) as a function of baseline cerebral glucose metabolism. Biological Psychiatry 46, 1603–1613.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Klein, E, Kreinin, I, Chistyakov, A, Koren, D, Mecz, L, Marmur, S, Ben-Shachar, D, Feinsod, M (1999). Therapeutic efficacy of right prefrontal slow repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in major depression: a double-blind controlled study. Archives of General Psychiatry 56, 315–320.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kolbinger, HM, Höflich, G, Hufnagel, A, Möller, HJ, Kasper, S (1995). Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in the treatment of major depression. Human Psychopharmacology 10, 305–310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levkovitz, Y, Roth, Y, Harel, EV, Braw, Y, Sheer, A, Zangen, A (2007). A randomized controlled feasibility and safety study of deep transcranial magnetic stimulation. Clinical Neurophysiology 118, 2730–2744.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Loo, CK, Mitchell, PB (2005). A review of the efficacy of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) treatment for depression, and current and future strategies to optimize efficacy. Journal of Affective Disorders 88, 255–267.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miniussi, C, Bonato, C, Bignotti, S, Gazzoli, A, Gennarelli, M, Pasqualetti, P, Tura, GB, Ventriglia, M, Rossini, PM (2005). Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) at high and low frequency: an efficacious therapy for major drug-resistant depression? Clinical Neurophysiology 116, 1062–1071.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moncrieff, J, Wessely, S, Hardy, R (2004). Active placebos versus antidepressants for depression. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Issue 1. Art. No.: CD003012. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD003012.pub2.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Reardon, JP, Solvason, HB, Janicak, PG, Sampson, S, Isenberg, KE, Nahas, Z, McDonald, WM, Avery, D, Fitzgerald, PB, Loo, C, Demitrack, MA, George, MS, Sackeim, HA (2007). Efficacy and safety of transcranial magnetic stimulation in the acute treatment of major depression: a multisite randomized controlled trial. Biological Psychiatry 62, 1208–1216.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Padberg, F, Zwanzger, P, Thoma, H, Kathmann, N, Haag, C, Greenberg, BD, Hampel, H, Möller, HJ (1999). Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in pharmacotherapy-refractory major depression: comparative study of fast, slow and sham rTMS. Psychiatry Research 88, 163–171.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pascual-Leone, A, Rubio, B, Pallardo, F, Catala, MD (1996). Rapid-rate transcranial magnetic stimulation of left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in drug-resistant depression. Lancet 348, 233–237.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rosenberg, MS, Adams, DC, Gurevitch, J (2000). MetaWin. Statistical Software for Meta-analysis. Version 2.0. Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA.Google Scholar
Rosenberg, PB, Mehndiratta, RB, Mehndiratta, YP, Wamer, A, Rosse, RB, Balish, M (2002). Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment of comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder and major depression. Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences 14, 270–276.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rossini, PM, Rossi, S (2007). Transcranial magnetic stimulation: diagnostic, therapeutic, and research potential. Neurology 68, 484–488.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schutter, DJLG (2009). Antidepressant efficacy of high-frequency transcranial magnetic stimulation over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in double-blind sham-controlled designs: a meta-analysis. Psychological Medicine 39, 65–75.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schutter, DJLG, de Weijer, AD, Meuwese, JD, Morgan, B, van Honk, J (2008). Interrelations between motivational stance, cortical excitability, and the frontal electroencephalogram asymmetry of emotion: a transcranial magnetic stimulation study. Human Brain Mapping 29, 574–580.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schutter, DJLG, van Honk, J (2010). An endocrine perspective on the role of steroid hormones in the antidepressant treatment efficacy of transcranial magnetic stimulation. Psychoneuroendocrinology 35, 171–178.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Siebner, HR, Lang, N, Rizzo, V, Nitsche, MA, Paulus, W, Lemon, RN, Rothwell, JC (2004). Preconditioning of low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation with transcranial direct current stimulation: evidence for homeostatic plasticity in the human motor cortex. Journal of Neuroscience 24, 3379–3385.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sommer, M, Lang, N, Tergau, F, Paulus, W (2002). Neuronal tissue polarization induced by repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation? Neuroreport 13, 809–811.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Speer, AM, Benson, BE, Kimbrell, TK, Wassermann, EM, Willis, MW, Herscovitch, P, Post, RM (2009). Opposite effects of high and low frequency rTMS on mood in depressed patients: relationship to baseline cerebral activity on PET. Journal of Affective Disorders 115, 386–394.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stern, WM, Tormos, JM, Press, DZ, Pearlman, C, Pascual-Leone, A (2007). Antidepressant effects of high and low frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience 19, 179–186.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strafella, AP, Paus, T, Barrett, J, Dagher, A (2001). Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation of the human prefrontal cortex induces dopamine release in the caudate nucleus. Journal of Neuroscience 21, RC157.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed