Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Meta-Analysis
. 2024 Mar;30(3):e14645.
doi: 10.1111/cns.14645.

Is it more effective for anhedonia and avolition? A systematic review and meta-analysis of non-invasive brain stimulation interventions for negative symptoms in schizophrenia

Yuying Chen  1 , Zhuofeng Li  1 , Chao Yan  2 , Laiquan Zou  1   3
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Is it more effective for anhedonia and avolition? A systematic review and meta-analysis of non-invasive brain stimulation interventions for negative symptoms in schizophrenia

Yuying Chen et al. CNS Neurosci Ther. 2024 Mar.

Abstract

Background: Noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS) techniques are a promising tool for treating the negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Growing evidence suggests that different dimensions of negative symptoms have partly distinct underlying pathophysiological mechanisms. Previous randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have shown inconsistent impacts of NIBS across dimensions.

Objective: This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the effects of NIBS on general negative symptoms, and on specific domains, including blunted affect, alogia, asociality, anhedonia, and avolition.

Data sources: PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane CENTRAL, PsycINFO, OpenGrey, and Clinicaltrials.gov from the first date available to October, 2023.

Results: Among 1049 studies, we identified eight high-quality RCTs. NIBS significantly affects general negative symptoms (SMD = -0.54, 95% CI [-0.88, -0.21]) and all five domains (SMD = -0.32 to -0.63). Among dimensions, better effects have been shown for improvement of avolition (SMD = -0.47, 95% CI [-0.81, -0.13]) and anhedonia (SMD = -0.63, 95% CI [-0.98, -0.28]). Subgroup analyses of studies that applied once daily stimulation or >10 sessions showed significantly reduced negative symptom severity.

Conclusion: NIBS exerts distinct effects across multiple dimensions of negative symptom, with treatment effects related to stimulation frequency and total sessions. These results need to be confirmed in dedicated studies.

Keywords: anhedonia; meta-analysis; schizophrenia; transcranial direct current stimulation; transcranial magnetic stimulation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses (PRISMA) flow diagram of included/excluded studies.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Forest plots of the results of the meta‐analyses.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Forest plots of the results of the subgroup analysis (based on frequency).
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Forest plots of the results of the subgroup analysis (based on total sessions).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. McGrath J, Saha S, Chant D, Welham J. Schizophrenia: a concise overview of incidence, prevalence, and mortality. Epidemiol Rev. 2008;30(1):67‐76. - PubMed
    1. Bitter I, Mohr P, Raspopova N, et al. Assessment and treatment of negative symptoms in schizophrenia‐a regional perspective. Front Psych. 2022;12:820801. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cerveri G, Gesi C, Mencacci C. Pharmacological treatment of negative symptoms in schizophrenia: update and proposal of a clinical algorithm. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2019;15:1525‐1535. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Medalia A, Lim R. Treatment of cognitive dysfunction in psychiatric disorders. J Psychiatr Pract. 2004;10(1):17‐25. - PubMed
    1. Bhandari A, Voineskos D, Daskalakis ZJ, Rajji TK, Blumberger DM. A review of impaired neuroplasticity in schizophrenia investigated with non‐invasive brain stimulation. Front Psych. 2016;7:45. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types