Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
Abstract Introduction There is a bi-directional relationship between sleep and depression, with sleep difficulties contributing to the risk of treatment resistant depression. The existing literature regarding the influence of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) treatment on sleep is limited. The present study seeks to investigate changes in brain activity during sleep in individuals with treatment resistant depression undergoing rTMS treatment. Methods As part of an ongoing randomized, double-blind clinical trial, participants underwent four or six weeks of daily rTMS sessions targeting the left or bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Sleep was monitored at home with an ambulatory EEG device (Muse-S, Interaxon) or in the laboratory with standard polysomnography (N7000, Embla) for two consecutive nights before starting rTMS (the first night serving as an adaptation night) and one night after up to four weeks of rTMS. Results Our preliminary sample consisted of eight participants (25% females, age range: 31-64 years, M = 47.4, SD = 12.3). At baseline, all participants scored at least 15 on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression which corresponds to mild depression severity. On average, total sleep time did not change significantly from pre-intervention (6.2 + 1.3 hours) to after the last rTMS session (6.1 + 1.6 hours, p.050). After the last rTMS session (M=4.6, SD = 3.1), the percentage of NREM1 sleep shortened significantly relative to what was observed before the intervention (M=5.9, SD = 2.8; p = .042) . Changes in other sleep stages did not reach statistical significance. Conclusion These preliminary findings suggest that rTMS treatment may reduce light sleep without affecting overall sleep duration in individuals with treatment resistant depression. If replicated in larger samples, such findings may highlight rTMS as a potential means of alleviating poor sleep commonly linked to depression. Support (if any) This work was supported by the Royal’s Institute of Mental Health Research’s Emerging Research Innovators in Mental Health award, the Research Scholar Junior 1 grant (grant number 297133) from the Fonds de Recherche en Santé – Québec, and an anonymous donation.
Fonseca et al. (Sat,) studied this question.