The effects of high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on auditory hallucinations and working memory among patients with schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is one of the most complicated psychiatric disorders. Some afflicted patients show resistance to routine treatments. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a noninvasive brain stimulation technique with the potential to reduce symptoms among patients with schizophrenia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of high-frequency rTMS on auditory hallucinations and working memory among patients with schizophrenia.

This experimental study was conducted using a pretest-posttest controlled design. The statistical population of the study consisted of all patients with schizophrenia and auditory hallucinations who referred to the outpatient psychiatric emergency department of Imam Hossein hospital, Tehran, Iran, in 2019. In total, twelve eligible patients were recruited through convenience sampling and randomly allocated to a control and an intervention group. Participants in the intervention group individually received rTMS in ten sessions, while their counterparts in the control group received no intervention during the study. Data were collected using the diagnostic interview, the screening questionnaire for rTMS, the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale for schizophrenia, the Varieties of Inner Speech Questionnaire, and the Working Memory Measure. Data analysis was performed using univariate and multivariate analyses of covariance.

The posttest mean score of auditory hallucination in the intervention group was significantly less than the control group, while the posttest mean score of working memory in the intervention group was significantly greater than the control group (P < 0.05).

This study suggests the effectiveness of rTMS in significantly reducing auditory hallucinations and improving working memory among patients with schizophrenia.