Background: Post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) is an often debilitating neuropsychiatric disorder that can be permanent despite intensive standard therapy involving pharmacological and psychotherapeutic interventions. Clinical data acquired by us and by others suggest that matching rTMS stimulation frequency to each patient’s inherent EEG frequency may be effective in refractory psychopathologies. Hence our objective was to determine whether patient frequency matched rTMS, termed Personalized rTMS (PrTMS®) could improve PTSD status.
Methods: Male and female adult patients (N = 299) eligible for PrTMS® and with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (PCL-5) test scores indicative of PTSD (≥ 31) were treated with PrTMS® daily for 5 days a week for up to 60 treatment sessions. All patients were instructed to remain on their standard PTSD therapy throughout their PrTMS® treatment course. PCL-5 scores before and after PrTMS® were compared statistically, and PrTMS® associated EEG changes were compared to baseline values.
Results: PCL-5 scores dropped by one week of PrTMS® and continued to decline until 30-50 treatments (6-9 weeks). 84% of patients responded, and their mean PCL-5 score reduction was 23 (range=1-71, SD=15.3, SEM= ± 0.96). Concomitantly, the EEG power spectrum peaks typically migrated by up to 1 Hz towards each patient’s personal alpha peak frequency.
Conclusions: These findings indicate that PrTMS® significantly improved the symptoms of PTSD as reflected by a mean PCL-5 score drop of 23 points.
Conflicts of Interests: Kevin T. Murphy, MD, is the founder and CEO of PeakLogic, Inc.
Funding: PeakLogic, Inc, funded this study.
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