Journal: BMC Neurology, volume 19, article 319
Authors: elingardi PML, de Lima Rodrigues AL, da Silva VA, Fernandes DTRM, Rosí J Jr, Marcolin MA, Yeng LT, Brunoni AR, Teixeira MJ, Galhardoni R, de Andrade DC
Background:
Because several targets of s-TMS studies play an important role in cognitive performance, the excitation or inhibition of these cortical areas could impair the patient’s performance in certain cognitive domains. Long-term studies assessing the effects of TMS on cognition have, in fact, shown that repetitive sessions of s-TMS may leave unaltered, or even to some extent improve, cognitive channels (executive functions in particular) in patients suffering from neuropsychiatric diseases.
Objective:
Here, we report secondary outcome data from a trial in which in which 98 patients with central neuropathic pain due to stroke or spinal cord injury were stimulated for a total of 16 sessions spanning a 12-week interval. We provide a comprehensive evaluation of cognitive status performed before and after the long-term d-TMS treatment.
Methods:
The 98 subjects were adult patients diagnosed with central neuropathic pain The stimulation protocol consisted of a total of 16 stimulation sessions spanning 12 weeks. Patients were stimulated for 5 consecutive days during the first week (induction phase) followed by a maintenance phase during which they received one stimulation weekly until the end of the study .
Results:
There were no significant effects of stimulation on cognitive assessment scores during treatment. Median changes in scores in the active d-TMS groups were similar to those of the sham d-TMS group (Table 2) (p > 0.180) except for the verbal fluency – phonemic test, in which the d-TMS-PSI group showed a slight improvement (p = 0.025) after treatment; however, this change did not persist after corrections for multiple analyses.
Conclusions:
This study confirms that 16 sessions of deep-TMS in PSI and CCA at a frequency of 10 Hz and 80% of MT have no deleterious effect on cognitive functioning in patients with neuropathic pain.
