Effect of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) by bilateral protocol on depression severity in patients with Depressive Disorder

Background and Aim : Depression is one of the most prevalent psychiatric disorders and there are a lot of antidepressants which can decrease the symptoms of depression, but some of patients are resistant to medication. Neuro imaging studies have demonstrated that low function of left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (LDLPFC) and high function of right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (RDLPFC) have correlation with depression. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a novel, safe and non invasive therapeutic tool for neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression. Thus the purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of bilateral protocol on severity of depression in depressive disorder.Methods : The participants were 24 patients with depressive disorder aged 25-45 years who were randomly selected from clients referred to Asayesh Neurotherapy Center. they were divided into 2 groups, one with left DLPFC stimulation (20Hz, 5s, 1400 pulses and 85% of MT) and right DLPFC inhibition(1Hz, 10s, 700 pulses and 110% of MT), and one control group. In all subjects, depression severity was assessed by Beck Depression Inventory. Intervention was performed in 10 sessions during two weeks and then post-test was done.Results : Data were analyzed by SPSS software using paired t-test and univariate analysis of covariance. The results showed that there was a significant decrement in the depression severity in experimental group compared to the control group. By Within group analysis significant decrement in experimental group was observed too.Conclusion : To sum up, bilateral DLPFC rTMS was effectively associated with antidepressant treatment during 10 sessions. Nevertheless, more controlled studies will be necessary to specify the long lasting effects of rTMS.

کلیدواژه ها:

Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) ، DLPFC ، Depression severity ، Depressive Disorder