Discover the transformative potential of neuromodulation in tackling apathy among Alzheimer’s patients, as we delve into the latest evidence from rigorous clinical trials.
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Efficacy and safety of neuromodulation for apathy in patients with Alzheimer’s disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Jin et al., J Psychiatr Res 2024
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2024.01.016
Summary of Neuromodulation for Apathy in Alzheimer’s Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment
What’s New: This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the effectiveness of neuromodulation interventions on apathy in elderly patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or mild cognitive impairment (MCI). It specifically looked at the impact of high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS).
Importance: Apathy is a common and challenging symptom in AD and MCI, and non-pharmacological treatments like neuromodulation could offer alternative therapeutic options.
Contributions to Literature: The analysis included four randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with 89 patients. Overall, neuromodulation did not show a significant improvement in apathy or global cognition. However, subgroup analyses revealed that high-frequency rTMS at 120% resting motor threshold (RMT) significantly improved apathy (SMD = 1.36, P = 0.0004) and global cognition (SMD = 1.34, P = 0.0005) compared to sham treatments. No significant improvement was observed with rTMS at 80% RMT or with tDCS.
Results: The study suggests that high-frequency rTMS at 120% RMT could be an effective and safe intervention for apathy and may also enhance global cognition in elderly patients with AD or MCI. This finding supports further research through larger RCTs to confirm the potential of rTMS as a treatment for apathy in these conditions.