Double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled pilot clinical trial with gamma-band transcranial alternating current stimulation for the treatment of schizophrenia refractory auditory hallucinations

作者：Xiaojuan Wang, Xiaochen Zhang, Yuan Chang, Jingmeng Liao, Shuang Liu, Dong Ming · 发表于：Translational Psychiatry · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1038/s41398-025-03256-z · 被引用次数：9 · 研究领域：Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Studies、Neural dynamics and brain function、Neuroscience and Neural Engineering

Gamma oscillations are essential for brain communication. The 40 Hz neural oscillation deficits in schizophrenia impair left frontotemporal connectivity and information communication, causing auditory hallucinations. Transcranial alternating current stimulation is thought to enhance connectivity between different brain regions by modulating brain oscillations. In this work, we applied a frontal-temporal-parietal 40 Hz-tACS stimulation strategy for treating auditory hallucinations and further explored the effect of tACS on functional connectivity of brain networks. 32 schizophrenia patients with refractory auditory hallucinations received 20daily 20-min, 40 Hz, 1 mA sessions of active or sham tACS on weekdays for 4 consecutive weeks, followed by a 2-week follow-up period without stimulation. Auditory hallucination symptom scores and 64-channel electroencephalograms were measured at baseline, week2, week4 and follow-up. For clinical symptom score, we observed a significant interaction between group and time for auditory hallucinations symptoms (F(3,90) = 26.964, p < 0.001), and subsequent analysis showed that the 40Hz-tACS group had a higher symptom reduction rate than the sham group at week4 (p = 0.036) and follow-up (p = 0.047). Multiple comparisons of corrected EEG results showed that the 40Hz-tACS group had higher functional connectivity in the right frontal to parietal (F (1,30) = 7.24, p = 0.012) and right frontal to occipital (F (1,30) = 7.98, p = 0.008) than the sham gr...