Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for the Treatment of Pharmacoresistant Nondelusional Auditory Verbal Hallucinations in Dementia

Abstract EN

Auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs) are known as a core symptom of schizophrenia, but also occur in a number of other conditions, not least in neurodegenerative disorders such as dementia.

In the last decades, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) emerged as a valuable therapeutic approach towards several neurological and psychiatric diseases, including AVHs.

Herein we report a case of a seventy-six-years-old woman with vascular-degenerative brain disease, complaining of threatening AVHs.

The patient was treated with a high-frequency temporoparietal (T3P3) rTMS protocol for fifteen days.

A considerable reduction of AVHs in frequency and content (no more threatening) was observed.

Although further research is needed, this seems an encouraging result.