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Background:
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) stands as one of the most prevalent neuropsychiatric disorders, surpassing the lifetime prevalence of schizophrenia and bipolar disorders. Many individuals with OCD do not adequately respond to currently available pharmacological and psychotherapeutic interventions. Consequently, there is growing interest in exploring adjunctive brain stimulation methods to address treatment resistance in OCD. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of adjunctive deep transcranial magnetic stimulation (dTMS) in alleviating OCD symptoms. Additionally, the impact of dTMS on brain region activation during the performance of the Stroop task was examined using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
Methods:
Out of 41 assessed patients, 15 with OCD received ten sessions of high-frequency dTMS over a 2-week period, targeting the anterior cingulate cortex and the medial prefrontal cortex with the H7 coil. Clinical assessment utilized the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale, the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, and the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale before and after stimulation. fMRI was employed to measure brain region activation during the Stroop task.
Results:
Following the 2-week dTMS treatment, there was a significant improvement in obsessive-compulsive, anxiety, and depressive symptoms. Notably, a considerable decrease in the activation of the left caudate nucleus and adjacent white matter was observed during the Stroop task after dTMS treatment.
Conclusions:
This study presents initial evidence supporting the functional correlates of the effectiveness of dTMS as an adjunctive treatment approach for OCD.
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