ArticleCureus2024
Effects of Low-Intensity Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Neuropsychological Development of Pediatric Subjects With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Longitudinal Retrospective Approach.
Article in Cureus, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
- The applications of TMS in brain function assessment and treatment of mental disorders: a narrative review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Review
- Multimodal Morphometric Similarity Network Analysis of Autism Spectrum Disorder.Brain sciences · 2025Article
- Potential mechanisms and clinical applications of static magnetic field therapy in glioma.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAutism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a heterogeneous neurobiological condition characterized by behavioral problems and delayed neurodevelopment. Although transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has been proposed as an alternative treatment for patients with ASD because of its promising benefits in reducing repetitive behaviors and enhancing executive functions, the use of high-intensity pulses (Hi-TMS) appears to be related to the side effects of the therapy. Low-intensity TMS (Li-TMS) has been partially investigated, but it may have clinical effects on ASD and simultaneously increase treatment safety.
methodsIn this study, the effects of combined intervention with Li-TMS and conventional therapies were evaluated in 35 patients from Ecuador (six female and 29 male), aged between three and seven years, with a confirmed diagnosis of ASD. Each subject received conventional therapies twice a week (for four weeks) provided at the research center (psychological, occupational, speech, and neuro-psychomotor therapies) alongside daily Li-TMS sessions at 1 Hz and 9 mT of intensity targeting the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (L-DLPFC) for 45 min for four weeks (16 sessions in total). The Battelle Developmental Inventory (BDI), first edition, was applied before and after Li-TMS therapy to evaluate its clinical effects in subjects with ASD. Weekly follow-up assessments and parent questionnaires were administered to identify any adverse events.
resultsIn all BDI domains, a significant statistical difference was observed between the pre- and post-intervention averages, supported by extremely low p-values (less than 0.001 in all cases). The personal, social, motor, cognitive, and communicative skills of all the study participants increased after Li-TMS therapy. At the same time, the calculated maturational delay had a significant decrease, suggesting an improvement of ~7.78 months in the neurodevelopment of the ASD subjects. However, age was also found to be a possible cause for these changes in development and maturation. No adverse effects were observed.
conclusionsBoth variants of TMS, Hi-TMS and Li-TMS, have proven to be promising treatments for subjects with ASD, improving social and cognitive abilities. This investigation suggests that the combination of conventional therapies and 16 sessions of Li-TMS as a treatment for individuals with ASD had significant clinical progress, specifically in maturation development according to BDI. In addition, the use of low-intensity magnetic fields may allow for safer pulse delivery in pediatric subjects, as no side effects were reported in this study.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.