Effect of repetitive TMS and fluoxetine on cognitive function in patients with Parkinson's disease and concurrent depression.

Abstract

Previous studies show that cognitive functions are more impaired in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and depression than in nondepressed PD patients. We compared the cognitive effects of two types of antidepressant treatments in PD patients: fluoxetine (20 mg/day) versus repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS, 15 Hz, 110% above motor threshold, 10 daily sessions) of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Twenty-five patients with PD and depression were randomly assigned either to Group 1 (active rTMS and placebo medication) or to Group 2 (sham rTMS and fluoxetine). A neuropsychological battery was assessed by a rater blind to treatment arm at baseline and 2 and 8 weeks after treatment. Patients in both groups had a significant improvement of Stroop (colored words and interference card) and Hooper and Wisconsin (perseverative errors) test performances after both treatments. Furthermore, there were no adverse effects after either rTMS or fluoxetine in any neuropsychological test of the cognitive test battery. The results show that rTMS could improve some aspects of cognition in PD patients similar to that of fluoxetine. The mechanisms for this cognitive improvement are unclear, but it is in the context of mood improvement.

• Authors: Paulo S Boggio, Felipe Fregni, Felix Bermpohl, Carlos G Mansur, Moacyr Rosa, Demetrio O Rumi, Egberto R Barbosa, Marina Odebrecht Rosa, Alvaro Pascual-Leone, Sérgio Paulo Rigonatti, Marco A Marcolin, Maria Teresa Araujo Silva
• Journal: Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society (Mov Disord) Vol. 20 Issue 9 Pg. 1178-84 (Sep 2005) ISSN: 0885-3185 [Print] United States
• PMID: 15895421 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Randomized Controlled Trial)
• Copyright: (c) 2005 Movement Disorder Society.

Chemical References

• Antiparkinson Agents
• Serotonin Uptake Inhibitors
• Fluoxetine
• Levodopa

Topics

• Aged
• Antiparkinson Agents (therapeutic use)
• Cognition Disorders (diagnosis, epidemiology)
• Depressive Disorder, Major (drug therapy, epidemiology)
• Double-Blind Method
• Female
• Fluoxetine (therapeutic use)
• Functional Laterality (physiology)
• Humans
• Levodopa (therapeutic use)
• Male
• Neuropsychological Tests
• Parkinson Disease (drug therapy, epidemiology, physiopathology)
• Periodicity
• Prefrontal Cortex (physiopathology)
• Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (therapeutic use)
• Severity of Illness Index
• Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (instrumentation)