Use of Transcranial Direct Stimulation in the Treatment of Negative Symptoms of Schizophrenia.

Use of Transcranial Direct Stimulation in the Treatment of Negative Symptoms of Schizophrenia. Clin EEG Neurosci. 2018 Jan;49(1):18-26 Authors: Pontillo M, Costanzo F, Menghini D, Averna R, Santonastaso O, Tata MC, Vicari S Abstract Schizophrenia is a debilitating disease that affects approximately 1% of the population. Negative symptoms are among the major determinants of the functional impairment and a significant proportion of patients with negative symptoms will continue to experience these symptoms despite antipsychotic medications. There are promising results in the application of brain stimulation, particularly transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), for the reduction of negative symptoms of schizophrenia. However, findings are still controversial. This is a selective review of the literature published between 2011 and 2017 on use of tDCS in treatment of negative symptoms of schizophrenia. We included only randomized controlled trials where schizophrenia and negative symptoms were assessed using any psychometrically validated scale (eg, Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale or Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms). Studies of participants with neurological conditions were excluded, as were those that did not report any symptom outcome variables. Only 5 studies are included. Three studies showed a decrease of negative symptoms. The other studies did not show any therapeutic effects of tDCS in the severity of pos...
Source: Clinical EEG and Neuroscience - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Tags: Clin EEG Neurosci Source Type: research