Electroencephalography Predictors of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Electroencephalography Predictors of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Electroencephalography (EEG) Predictors of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): A Preliminary Study

This study used electroencephalogram (EEG) to predict the efficacy of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS), as a relatively mature non-invasive neuromodulation technology, has been recommended for the treatment of patients with refractory OCD in multinational guidelines. However, due to the treatment setting and the patient's feature, nearly half of the patients have no significant changes after rTMS treatment. In order to better predict the outcome of rTMS and improve the treatment efficiency, this project intends to look for markers that have a predictive effect at baseline or early treatment. Electroencephalogram (EEG) is a cheap and fast method that usually occurs before the symptoms change, thus it is possible to determine whether the patient has responded to the intervention. In this project, the supplementary motor area (SMA) is selected as the stimulation target. The individual head magnetic resonance image positioning and navigation and rTMS compatible real-time EEG acquisition technology are used to monitor the resting state of EEG and rTMS single pulse stimulation and changes in neural networks before and after treatment. This is a preliminary exploration looking for effective predictive indicators of efficacy in EEG and the relationship between EEG and symptoms changes. In order to lay the foundation for further research and guide clinical treatment.

Continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) stimulation will be applied over the bilateral SMA once a day, 5 days/week, for 4 weeks.

It assesses the severity of OCD symptoms. The Y-BOCS scale ranges from 0 to 40, with 0 being no symptoms and 40 being severe.The responder on Y-BOCS is defined as a Y-BOCS decrease at least 35% from the baseline at post-treatment.

TMS-EEG and resting state EEG will be performed to investigate predictors of response to rTMS in OCD patients. The α, β and δ band power in resting state in each brain area of OCD patients will be recorded and analyzed. Also, in TMS treatment, event related potentials (ERPs) including motor evoked potentials (MEPs) amplitude, I waves, α band power and β band power will be analyzed.

It consists of 21 items and uses a 0 to 3 severity scale. Total scores range from 0 to 63, with higher scores indicating more severe depression symptoms.

It is an inventory of anxiety symptoms with 18 items that are rated on a 5-point Likert scale(0 to 4). Total scores range from 0 to 72, with higher scores indicating more severe anxiety symptoms.

The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) has 10 items to assess stress status within four weeks. Items are classified into five levels, from 0 (never) to 4 (very often). Total scores range from 0 to 40. The higher the total score, the stronger the level of stress the patient feels.

The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) contains 19 self-rated questions which measures seven aspects of sleep: (1) subjective sleep quality, (2) sleep latency, (3) sleep duration, (4) habitual sleep efficiency, (5) sleep disturbances, (6) use of sleeping medication, and (7) daytime dysfunction. The 19 self-rated items are combined to form seven component scores, each of which has a range of 0-3 points (0 indicates no difficulty, while 3 indicates severe difficulty). The seven component scores are then summed to yield one global score, with a range of 0-21 points (0 indicating no difficulty, and 21 indicating severe difficulties in all the seven areas of sleep quality).

It is an inventory of OCD symptoms with 18 items that are rated on a 5-point Likert scale. Total scores range from 0 to 72, with higher scores indicating more severe OCD symptoms.

It consists of 10-item and uses 0 to 3 severity scale to rate the intensity of side effects. Total scores range from 0 to 30, with higher scores indicating more severe side-effect. It also assesses the relation between side-effect and the effects of rTMS using 0 to 4 scale. Total scores range from 0 to 40, with higher score indicating the greater relation.

Inclusion Criteria: age>18 years old; DSM-5 criteria for OCD; Y-BOCS total score > or = 16 ->or＝9 yrs education Exclusion Criteria: any additional current psychiatric comorbidity, except for obsessive-compulsive personality disorder serious suicide risk; the inability to receive rTMS because of metallic implants, or history of seizures，or history of head injury, or history of neurosurgery; any major medical disease; pregnancy or nursing of an infant; participation in current clinical study; current use of any investigational drug; TMS/DBS treatment at any point in their lifetime; history of long-time use of benzodiazepines