Exacerbation of auditory verbal hallucinations with adjunctive high-frequency cerebellar vermal repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in schizophrenia: a case report

Abstract

In schizophrenia, novel target sites for repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), such as the cerebellum, are proposed to have a putative therapeutic role in treatment-resistant cases. We present a case of treatment-resistant schizophrenia that showed worsening of auditory verbal hallucinations after receiving high-frequency cerebellar vermal rTMS. We propose that cerebellar vermal rTMS modulates neuronal networks, causing activation in temporoparietal areas, which results in worsening of auditory verbal hallucinations.