Effects of 20  Hz Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on Disorders of Consciousness: A Resting-State Electroencephalography Study.

This study aimed to examine the effects of 20 Hz rTMS on the electroencephalography (EEG) reactivity and clinical response in patients with DOC and to explore the neuromodulatory effects of high-frequency rTMS. In this randomized, sham-controlled, crossover study, real or sham 20 Hz rTMS was applied to the left primary motor cortex (M1) of patients with DOC for 5 consecutive days. Evaluations were blindly performed at the baseline (T0), immediately after the end of the 5 days of treatment (T1) and 1 week after the treatment (T2) using the JFK coma recovery scale-revised (CRS-R) and resting-state EEG. Only one patient, with a history of 2 months of traumatic brain injury, showed long-lasting (T1, T2) behavioral and neurophysiological modifications after the real rTMS stimulation. The 5 remaining patients presented brain reactivity localized at several electrodes, and the EEG modification was not significant. rTMS stimulation may improve awareness and arousal of DOC. Additionally, EEG represents a potential biomarker for the therapeutic efficacy of rTMS. This trial is registered with (NCT03385278).
PMID: 29770146 [PubMed - in process]

Source: Neural Plasticity - May 18, 2018 Category: Neurology Authors: He F, Wu M, Meng F, Hu Y, Gao J, Chen Z, Bao W, Liu K, Luo B, Pan G Tags: Neural Plast Source Type: research