Brain Stimul
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Effects of a non-focal plasticity protocol on apathy in moderate Alzheimer's disease: a randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled trial.
Apathy is the most common neuropsychiatric symptom in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and it is associated with changes in prefrontal neural circuits involved with generation of voluntary actions. To date no effective treatment for apathy has been demonstrated. ⋯ In this adequately powered study for minimal clinically significant difference, our findings show that using the parameters we chose for this study, repeated anodal tDCS over the left DLPFC had no effect on apathy in elderly patients with moderate AD.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Functional MRI-navigated repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation over supplementary motor area in chronic tic disorders.
Open label studies have shown repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation to be effective in reducing tics. ⋯ Active, fMRI-navigated cTBS administered in 8 sessions over 2 days to the SMA induced significant inhibition in the motor network (SMA, bilateral M1). However, both groups on average experienced tic reduction at 7 days. Larger sample size and protocol modifications may be needed to produce clinically significant tic reduction beyond placebo effect.
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Deep brain stimulation is the surgical procedure of choice in patients with Parkinson's disease. The subthalamic nucleus and the globus pallidus interna are the two most common targets used to treat Parkinson's disease. ⋯ After 24 months of follow up, our observations suggest that globus pallidus deep brain stimulation, can improve motor fluctuations, dyskinesia and axial symptoms.
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TMS has high potential as smoking cessation treatment. However, the neural mechanisms underlying TMS induced reduction of tobacco craving remain unclear. Electroencephalographic (EEG) delta frequency has been associated with the activity of the dopaminergic brain reward system, which is crucial for nicotine induced effects, and decreases after nicotine admission in smokers. ⋯ Hf rTMS applied to the left DLPFC reduces nicotine craving in short-term abstinent smokers. Changes in delta activity support the idea that stimulation induced effects are mediated by the dopaminergic brain reward system, which presumably plays a prominent, but probably not exclusive, role in this stimulation induced behavioral modulation, making this method a promising smoking cessation treatment candidate.
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Motor cortex stimulation (MCS) is a potentially effective treatment for chronic neuropathic pain. The neural mechanisms underlying the reduction of hyperalgesia and allodynia after MCS are not completely understood. ⋯ These findings suggest that, in animals with SCL, MCS attenuates hypersensitivity by suppressing activity in the primary somatosensory cortex and prefrontal cortex.