A comparative study of the effect of rTMS on cognitive function in patients with chronic schizophrenia

Objective To evaluate the effect and safety of repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation(rTMS) on cognitive function in patients with chronic schizophrenia.Methods 44 inpatients with chronic schizophrenia were randomly divided into study group(23 cases) receiving real rTMS for 4 weeks and control group(21 cases) receiving sham rTMS for 4 weeks.The efficiency was assessed with Positive and Negative Symptom Scale(PANSS),the side effects was assessed with Treatment Emergent Symptom scale(TESS) and the cognitive function was assessed with Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status(RBANS) at baseline and at the end of the treatment.Results(1) Compared with the baseline,total score and factor scores of PANSS decreased significantly in study group(P0.01) rather than in control group.There was no significant difference in score of TESS between the two groups(P0.05).(2) Total score of RBANS,factor scores of visuospatial-constructional,attention,delayed memory(P0.01),as well as factor score of immediate memory increased significantly in study group compared with the baseline.There was no significant improvement in total score of RBANS and all factor scores except the delayed memory(P0.05).(3) At the end of the treatment,difference value of PANSS and general psychopathology subscale was negatively correlated with difference value of immediate memory(P0.05).There was no significant correlation between the difference value of other cognitive function factors and difference value of PANSS(P0.05).ConclusionrTMS can improve the cognitive function in schizophrenic patients with little side effects,and the improvement is not correlated with the improvement of negative symptoms.