Effects of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on Executive Functioning in Patients with First-episode Depression

MA Zhujing; SUN Kewei; GUAN Muzhen; WANG Guoqiang; CHEN Chen; ZHANG Liang; GU Ya'nan; YANG Qun

doi:10.13730/j.issn.2097-2148.2024.03.009

Abstract：Objective To investigate the effectiveness and executive function of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation(rTMS)on patients with first-episode depression by means of collecting behavioristics and electroencephalo-gram data,and to preliminary explore the potential cognitive neural mechanism of rTMS treatment in patients with de-pression.Methods Patients with first-episode depression were divided into experimental group(n=26)and control group(n=25)by randomized numerical table,the experimental group was treated with rTMS combined with drug therapy for 8 weeks,and the control group was treated with drug therapy alone.Changes of depression,anxiety and executive function were evaluated by 24-item Hamilton depression rating scale(HAMD-24),14-item Hamilton anxiety rating scale(HAMA-14),behavioral tools and event-related potential(ERP)before and after intervention.Results The scores of HAMD-24 and HAMA-14 of depression patients after treatment were significantly lower in both groups than before inter-vention(all P＜0.001),the score of H AMD-24 in the experimental group was significantly lower than that in the control group(P＜0.05).In the Go/Nogo task,the number of correct responses to Nogo conditions of depression patients in the two groups was significantly higher than that before intervention(all P＜0.05);in the Stroop task,the number of correct responses in inconsistent conditions of depression patients in the experimental group was significantly higher than that be-fore the intervention,and the reaction time in inconsistent conditions of depression patients was significantly shorter than that before the intervention,the number of correct responses to inconsistent conditions of depression patients in the experimental group was significantly higher than that in the control group,and the reaction time to incon-sistent conditions of depression patients was significantly shorter(all P＜0.05).Among the electroencephalogram indica-tors,the experimental group elicited larger Nogo N2 amplitude and P3 amplitude of depression patients after intervention than before intervention(all P＜0.05);the N2 differential wave amplitude and P3 differential wave amplitude of depres-sion patients in the experimental group were significantly higher than those of the control group(all P＜0.05).Conclusion rTMS can enhance the level of cognitive nerve activity and improve executive function of depression patients,which works better for depression patients.