Prefrontal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Treatment of Schizophrenia With Predominant Negative Symptoms: A Double-Blind, Sham-Controlled Proof-of-Concept Study.

ABSTRACT: Negative symptoms are highly relevant in the long-term course of schizophrenia and are an important target domain for the development of novel interventions. Recently, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of the prefrontal cortex has been investigated as a treatment option in schizophrenia. In this proof-of-concept study, 20 schizophrenia patients with predominantly negative symptoms were randomized to either 10 sessions of add-on active (2 mA, 20min) or sham tDCS (anode: left DLPFC/F3; cathode: right supraorbital/F4). Primary outcome measure was the change in the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) sum score; secondary outcomes included reduction in Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) scores and improvement of depressive symptoms, cognitive processing s

SUBMITTER: Palm U 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4988747 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature