WikiMSK:Featured Journal Article/1 September 2025
Differential Effects of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on Mood and Pain Symptoms in People With Chronic Pain and Major Depressive Disorders—A Review
Ciampi de Andrade et al. European Journal of Pain. July 2025
ABSTRACT - Evidence shows rTMS has target- and symptom-specific effects: Motor cortex stimulation improves pain without reliably affecting mood, while dorsolateral prefrontal cortex stimulation alleviates depressive symptoms but inconsistently influences pain. These outcomes suggest that symptom improvement with rTMS is not global over different symptom clusters, but rather different for specific syndromes and the respective neural networks engaged by therapy. Personalised treatment strategies guided by pre-treatment connectivity profiles and symptom clusters, already in use for psychiatric disorders, could enhance outcomes in chronic pain management. However, limitations include small sample sizes, low session numbers and potential floor effects in studies involving non-depressed fibromyalgia patients.
