Alpha transcranial alternating current stimulation reduces depressive symptoms in people with schizophrenia and auditory hallucinations: a double-blind, randomized pilot clinical trial

作者：Mengsen Zhang, Rachel B. Force, Christopher Walker, Sangtae Ahn, L. Fredrik Jarskog, Flavio Frӧhlich · 发表于：Schizophrenia · 年份：2022 · DOI：10.1038/s41537-022-00321-0 · 被引用次数：38 · 研究领域：Neural dynamics and brain function、Functional Brain Connectivity Studies、Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies

People with schizophrenia exhibit reduced alpha oscillations and frontotemporal coordination of brain activity. Alpha oscillations are associated with top-down inhibition. Reduced alpha oscillations may fail to censor spurious endogenous activity, leading to auditory hallucinations. Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) at the alpha frequency was shown to enhance alpha oscillations in people with schizophrenia and may thus be a network-based treatment for auditory hallucinations. We conducted a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled pilot clinical trial to examine the efficacy of 10-Hz tACS in treating auditory hallucinations in people with schizophrenia. 10-Hz tACS was administered in phase at the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the temporoparietal junction with a return current at Cz. Patients were randomized to receive tACS or sham for five consecutive days during the treatment week (40 min/day), followed by a maintenance period, during which participants received weekly tACS (40 min/visit) or sham. tACS treatment reduced general psychopathology (p < 0.05, Cohen's d = -0.690), especially depression (p < 0.005, Cohen's d = -0.806), but not auditory hallucinations. tACS treatment increased alpha power in the target region (p < 0.05), increased the frequency of peak global functional connectivity towards 10 Hz (p < 0.05), and reduced left-right frontal functional connectivity (p < 0.005). Importantly, changes in brain functional connectivity significant...