Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Kapittelweg 29, 6525 EN, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, 6500 HE, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Sci Rep. 2019 Feb 4;9(1):1168. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-37308-w.
High frequency repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) has been shown to reduce depressive symptoms and improve cognitive biases such as attentional bias. One promising technique that may complement rTMS treatment is attentional bias modification (ABM) training, given the similarity in modulating attentional bias and affecting neuronal activity. We tested whether the combination of rTMS treatment and ABM training in a single session would attenuate maladaptive attentional processing and improve mood in participants with subclinical depressive symptoms. To this end, 122 healthy participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups, receiving either a single rTMS treatment, a single ABM treatment, a combination of rTMS and ABM or a sham treatment. Of these 122 participants, 72 showed a heightened BDI-II score (between 9 and 25) and were included in our main analyses. In our subclinical (≥9 and ≤25 BDI-II) sample, a single combination treatment of rTMS and ABM training induced no significant changes in attentional bias, attentional control or mood, nor did rTMS alone affect attentional bias systematically. We discuss these null findings in light of the task specifics and relate them to the ongoing discussion on ABM training in depression.
高频重复经颅磁刺激（rTMS）作用于左背外侧前额叶皮层（DLPFC）已被证明可减轻抑郁症状并改善认知偏差，如注意偏向。一种有前途的技术，即注意偏向修正（ABM）训练，可能会补充 rTMS 治疗，因为它们在调节注意偏向和影响神经元活动方面具有相似性。我们测试了在单次治疗中结合 rTMS 治疗和 ABM 训练是否会减轻适应不良的注意加工并改善有亚临床抑郁症状的参与者的情绪。为此，122 名健康参与者被随机分配到以下四个组中的一个：接受单次 rTMS 治疗、单次 ABM 治疗、rTMS 和 ABM 联合治疗或假治疗。在这 122 名参与者中，有 72 名参与者 BDI-II 评分升高（9 至 25 分之间），并被纳入我们的主要分析中。在我们的亚临床（BDI-II 评分≥9 且≤25）样本中，单次 rTMS 和 ABM 联合治疗并未引起注意偏向、注意控制或情绪的显著变化，rTMS 单独治疗也没有系统地影响注意偏向。我们根据任务的具体情况讨论了这些无效的发现，并将其与当前关于抑郁症 ABM 训练的讨论联系起来。
