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Review
. 2019 Sep 23:15:2743-2761.
doi: 10.2147/NDT.S201407. eCollection 2019.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation for the treatment of anxiety disorder

Priscila Aparecida Rodrigues  1 , Ana Luiza Zaninotto  1   2 , Iuri Santana Neville  1 , Cintya Yukie Hayashi  1 , André R Brunoni  3 , Manoel Jacobsen Teixeira  1 , Wellingson Silva Paiva  1
Affiliations
Review

Transcranial magnetic stimulation for the treatment of anxiety disorder

Priscila Aparecida Rodrigues et al. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. .

Abstract

Anxiety is currently one of the main mood changes and can impair the quality of life of the individual when associated with other neurological or psychiatric disorders. Neuromodulation has been highlighted as a form of treatment of several pathologies, including those involving anxiety symptoms. Among the neuromodulatory options with the potential to improve mood changes, we highlight repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). rTMS is a viable therapeutical option for neuropsychiatric dysfunctions of high prevalence and is important for the understanding of pathological and neuropsychological adaptation processes. Even with this potential, and high relevance of intervention, we observe the scarcity of literature that covers this subject. The objective of this study was to carry out a survey of the current literature, using scientific databases for the last five years. We found 32 studies reporting the effects of rTMS on anxiety, 7 on anxiety disorders and 25 on anxiety symptoms as comorbidities of neurological or psychiatric disorders. This survey suggests the need for further studies using TMS for anxiety in order to seek strategies that minimize these anxiety effects on the quality of life of the victims of this disorder.

Keywords: anxiety disorders; review; transcranial magnetic stimulation; treatment.

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Conflict of interest statement

Miss Cintya Yukie Hayashi reports grant from Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) – Brazil, outside the submitted work. The authors report no other conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram of the papers selected in our study, following PRISMA statement guidelines.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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