Left temporoparietal transcranial magnetic stimulation in treatment-resistant schizophrenia with verbal hallucinations

Psychiatry Res. 2003 Aug 30;120(1):107-9. doi: 10.1016/s0165-1781(03)00148-3.

Abstract

Left temporoparietal repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) reportedly diminishes verbal hallucinations. A 21-year-old schizophrenic man, who had killed his mother in the belief that she was a demon, failed to respond to combined treatment with a variety of antipsychotic agents. His persistent hallucinations consisted of two voices (God and the Devil). As an adjunct to continued antipsychotic medication, the patient received a course of rTMS: 10 sessions of 1-Hz stimulations near Wernicke's area. After rTMS, the patient's hallucinations grew less intrusive and he no longer required isolation. Although the improvement could be a delayed effect of medication, further trials of rTMS in cases of this type appear justified.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Antipsychotic Agents / therapeutic use
  • Combined Modality Therapy
  • Dominance, Cerebral / physiology*
  • Hallucinations / physiopathology
  • Hallucinations / psychology
  • Hallucinations / therapy
  • Homicide / psychology
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Parietal Lobe / physiopathology*
  • Schizophrenia, Paranoid / physiopathology
  • Schizophrenia, Paranoid / psychology
  • Schizophrenia, Paranoid / therapy*
  • Temporal Lobe / physiopathology*
  • Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation / therapeutic use*
  • Treatment Outcome

Substances

  • Antipsychotic Agents