Elsevier

Clinical Neurophysiology

Volume 132, Issue 2, February 2021, Pages 643-649
Clinical Neurophysiology

Individual alpha frequency proximity associated with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation outcome: An independent replication study from the ICON-DB consortium

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinph.2020.10.017Get rights and content
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open access

Highlights

  • rTMS treatment outcome is quadratically related to the individual alpha peak frequency (IAF) in depression.

  • Absolute distance of IAF to 10 Hz is linearly related to clinical outcome.

  • These results strengthen the theory that 10 Hz rTMS entrains brain oscillations.

Abstract

Objective

The aim of the current study was to attempt to replicate the finding that the individual alpha frequency (IAF) as well as the absolute difference between IAF and 10 Hz stimulation frequency (IAF-prox) is related to treatment outcome.

Methods

Correlations were performed to investigate the relationship between IAF-prox and percentage symptom improvement in a sample of 153 patients with major depressive disorder treated with 10 Hz (N = 59) to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) or 1 Hz (N = 94) to the right DLPFC repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS).

Results

There was a significant negative correlation between IAF-prox and the percentage of symptom improvement only for the 10 Hz group. Curve fitting models revealed that there was a quadratic association between IAF and treatment response in the 10 Hz group, with a peak at 10 Hz IAF.

Conclusion

The main result of Corlier and colleagues was replicated, and the findings suggest that the distance between 10 Hz stimulation frequency and the IAF may influence clinical outcome in a non-linear manner.

Significance

rTMS is often administered at a frequency of 10 Hz, which is the center of the EEG alpha frequency band. The results can make a significant contribution to optimizing the clinical application of rTMS.

Keywords

Replication
Alpha frequency
EEG
rTMS
Arnold Tongue
Synchronization
ICON-DB

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1

Indicates shared senior author.