Symposium Submission: rTMS and Schizophrenia: Recent Updates

Schizophrenia is a complex mental disorder which may present itself in a spectrum of symptoms which affects multiple mental modalities including thinking (e.g., delusions), perception (e.g., hallucinations), cognition and behavior (e.g. bizarre behavior). The recent scientific evidence has indicated the presence of impaired cortical inhibitory/excitatory circuitry in schizophrenia depending upon the predominant symptoms of the illness. Neuropsychiatric approaches towards research into the treatment of schizophrenia have gained momentum recently, with emergence of Neuromodulation technique particularly TMS, which has potential to develop as an adjunct treatment modality for symptoms of schizophrenia in addition to existing pharmacotherapeutic interventions. rTMS or repetitive transcranical magnetic stimulation is a non-invasive Neuromodulation technique which can be utilized for both cortical excitability and inhibition based upon various neurophysiological parameters. In last decade, the role of rTMS in schizophrenia has been majorly investigated in its specific symptoms such as Auditory Hallucinations, Negative symptoms and Cognitive Dysfunctions. Promising results have been demonstrated for reduction in AH and recent scientific evidence for rTMS in treating negative symptoms have also provided significant findings. Furthermore, as the clinical outcomes of TMS applications in schizophrenia is becoming apparent, use of Neuronaviagtion techniques using fMRI, PET based site localization is also explored to further specify the treatment outcome. In this symposium we will discuss the role of rTMS in schizophrenia with recent clinical trials focused on use of advanced treatment protocols like intermittent Theta Burst Stimulation (iTBS) in negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Primary Author: • Dr. NAND KUMAR, Professor of Psychiatry, AIIMS, New Delhi nandkm2001@gmail.com. Co-Authors: • Dr. SHUBH MOHAN SINGH, Additional Professor, Department of Psychiatry, PGIMER, Chandigarh shubhmohan@gmail.com; • Mr. Abhinav Singh, Research Assistant, ICMR-CARE in neuromodulation Department of Psychiatry, AIIMS, New Delhi abhinavskatiyar@gmail.com.