Delayed improvements in visual memory task performance among chronic schizophrenia patients after high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation

Table 1 Demographic and baseline clinical characteristics of active and sham repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation groups

	Active rTMS (n = 25)	Sham rTMS (n = 22)	χ2 or F	P value
Sex (male/female)	12/13	11/11	0.02	0.89
Age (yr)	45.9 ± 10.0	45.1 ± 10.4	0.05	0.83
Education (yr)	13.0 ± 4.7	12.5 ± 5.7	0.11	0.74
Age of onset (yr)	22.3 ± 6.3	25.2 ± 7.5	2.48	0.13
Antipsychotics			0.42	0.94
Clozapine	14	12
Quetiapine	3	4
Aripiprazole	3	2
Risperidone	3	1
Olanzapine	1	2
Chlorpromazine	1	1
Daily antipsychotic dose (mg) (chlorpromazine equivalent)	323.5 ± 193.1	341.7 ± 168.7	0.08	0.78
PANSS total score	72.1 ± 15.3	69.3 ± 11.5	0.45	0.51
P-subscore	12.6 ± 4.0	10.0 ± 3.3	3.52	0.07
N-subscore	26.7 ± 7.5	25.9 ± 6.9	0.25	0.62
G-subscore	33.8 ± 6.0	33.4 ± 5.4	0.01	0.91
SANS total score	88.1 ± 17.9	88.1 ± 15.2	0.18	0.68
Affect flattening	23.5 ± 5.8	24.1 ± 5.8	0.09	0.76
Alogia	16.0 ± 4.6	16.3 ± 3.4	0.12	0.73
Avolition-apathy	14.0 ± 3.1	14.6 ± 3.1	0.05	0.83
Anhedonia-Asociality	21.4 ± 3.3	21.7 ± 3.2	0.27	0.61
Attention	11.6 ± 2.3	11.4 ± 3.0	0.2	0.66
PRM-number correct	14.7 ± 4.0	15.5 ± 3.7	0.47	0.5
PRM-percent correct (%)	61.3 ± 16.9	64.6 ± 15.6	0.47	0.5

rTMS: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation; P: Positive symptom; N: Negative symptom; G: General psychopathology; SANS: Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms; PRM: Pattern recognition memory; PANSS: Positive and Negative Symptom Scale.

Table 2 Cognitive performance measures and clinical symptoms at baseline, week 4, and week 8 in active repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and sham multichannel transcranial magnetic stimulation groups

	Baseline (n = 47)	Week 4 (n = 41)	Week 8 (n = 38)	Group F (P value)	Time F (P value)	Group × Time F (P value)
PRM-number correct				1.37 (0.25)	13.2 (< 0.001)	22.1 (< 0.001)
rTMS (n = 25)	14.7 ± 4.0	15.1 ± 3.8	19.2 ± 2.7c
Sham (n = 22)	15.5 ± 3.7	14.9 ± 4.4	14.6 ± 4.1
SANS total score				0.89 (0.35)	38.11 (< 0.001)	11.36 (0.002)
rTMS	88.1 ± 17.9	79.0 ± 21.5	72.5 ± 16.8a
Sham	88.1 ± 15.2	83.6 ± 19.2	83.5 ± 20.5
Affect flattening				0.39 (0.54)	43.56 (< 0.001)	6.83 (0.013)
rTMS	23.5 ± 5.8	20.1 ± 6.7	18.8 ± 4.8
Sham	24.1 ± 5.8	22.5 ± 5.9	21.9 ± 6.7
Alogia				0.23 (0.64)	8.27 (0.007)	5.30 (0.027)
rTMS	16.0 ± 4.6	15.0 ± 4.7	13.6 ± 3.6
Sham	16.3 ± 3.4	15.9 ± 4.1	16.1 ± 5.1
Avolition-apathy				1.56 (0.22)	29.56 (< 0.001)	10.00 (0.003)
rTMS	14.0 ± 3.1	12.4 ± 3.5	11.4 ± 2.6a
Sham	14.6 ± 3.1	14.1 ± 3.9	14.0 ± 3.9
Anhedonia-Asociality				1.48 (0.23)	1.48 (0.23)	3.84 (0.058)
rTMS	21.4 ± 3.3	20.0 ± 3.9	29.9 ± 6.5a
Sham	21.7 ± 3.2	20.8 ± 3.8	31.9 ± 6.0
Attention				0.70 (0.41)	37.00 (< 0.001)	11.61 (0.002)
rTMS	11.6 ± 2.3	9.9 ± 2.9	8.7 ± 2.2a
Sham	11.4 ± 3.0	10.4 ± 3.7	10.6 ± 3.5
PANSS total score				0.03 (0.86)	60.02 (< 0.001)	8.42 (0.006)
rTMS	72.1 ± 15.3	65.3 ± 15.9	64.6 ± 16.8
Sham	69.3 ± 11.5	61.9 ± 16.6	63.1 ± 14.3
P-subscore				2.99 (0.09)	1.05 (0.313)	0.50 (0.49)
rTMS	12.6 ± 4.0	12.4 ± 4.0	12.5 ± 4.0
Sham	10.0 ± 3.3	10.5 ± 3.9	10.3 ± 3.6
N-subscore				0.01 (0.93)	77.76 (< 0.001)	10.12 (0.003)
rTMS	26.7 ± 7.5	22.8 ± 8.8	21.0 ± 7.1
Sham	25.9 ± 6.9	22.6 ± 7.5	23.1 ± 7.6
G-subscore				0.31 (0.58)	37.90 (< 0.001)	5.38 (0.026)
rTMS	33.8 ± 6.0	30.3 ± 6.6	29.9 ± 6.5
Sham	33.4 ± 5.4	31.7 ± 6.2	31.9 ± 6.0

^aP < 0.05.

^cP < 0.001.

rTMS: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation; PANSS: Positive and Negative Symptom Scale; P: Positive symptom; N: Negative symptom; G: General psychopathology; SANS: Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms; PRM: Pattern recognition memory.