Trial reportJournal of autism and developmental disorders2025
Accelerated Theta Burst Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Refractory Depression in Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Trial report in Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Effects of intermittent theta-burst stimulation on cognition and glymphatic system activity in mild cognitive impairment and very mild Alzheimer's disease: a randomized controlled trial.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2025Trial
- Novel therapeutics in autism spectrum disorder.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2026Review
- Exploring Applications of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: A Narrative Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
14 authors.
Funding
Abstract
purposeMajor depressive disorder (MDD) disproportionately affects those living with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and is associated with significant impairment and treatment recidivism.
methodsWe studied the use of accelerated theta burst stimulation (ATBS) for the treatment of refractory MDD in ASD (3 treatments daily x 10 days). This prospective open-label 12-week trial included 10 subjects with a mean age of 21.5 years, randomized to receive unilateral or bilateral stimulation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.
resultsOne participant dropped out of the study due to intolerability. In both treatment arms, depressive symptoms, scored on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale scores, diminished substantially. At 12 weeks post-treatment, full remission was sustained in 5 subjects and partial remission in 3 subjects. Treatment with ATBS, regardless of the site of stimulation, was associated with a significant, substantial, and sustained improvement in depressive symptomatology via the primary outcome measure, the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. Additional secondary measures, including self-report depression scales, fluid cognition, and sleep quality, also showed significant improvement. No serious adverse events occurred during the study. Mild transient headaches were infrequently reported, which are expected side effects of ATBS.
conclusionOverall, ATBS treatment was highly effective and well-tolerated in individuals with ASD and co-occurring MDD. The findings support the need for a larger, sham-controlled randomized controlled trial to further evaluate efficacy of ATBS in this population.
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