Therapeutic Efficacy of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Schizophrenia

This study builds on the results of a previous phase 1, single-site study in which we demonstrated the safety of image-guided theta burst stimulation (TBS) form of rTMS over the cerebellar vermis (Demirtas-Tatlidede et al., 2010) in eigh patients with schizophrenia. The primary goal of the present study is to assess efficacy of iTBS to the cerebellar vermis on positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia. A second, added goal is to investigate the mechanisms of the expected clinical improvement. Schizophrenia is a leading cause of mental disability and current treatments still remain only partially successful for many patients. Our underlying hypothesis is that modulation of the cerebellar vermis may enhance activity of the neural systems that sub-serve cognition and emotion, reestablish the disturbed cerebellar regulation in schizophrenic patients, and produce clinical improvement.