Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40012529›Full record

SynthesisPsychological medicine2025

Antidepressant efficacy of administering repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) with psychological and other non-pharmacological methods: a scoping review and meta-analysis.

Cristian G Giron, Alvin H P Tang, Minxia Jin, Georg S Kranz

Abstract readScoping ReviewMeta-Analysis
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Psychological medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Article
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Cristian G GironDepartment of Psychology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.ORCID 0000-0003-4428-4546
Alvin H P TangDepartment of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Minxia JinDepartment of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Georg S KranzDepartment of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China.ORCID 0000-0002-3892-1804

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

To optimize the antidepressant efficacy of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), it is important to examine the impact of brain state during therapeutic rTMS. Evidence suggests that brain state can modulate the brain's response to stimulation, potentially diminishing antidepressant efficacy if left uncontrolled or enhancing it with inexpensive psychological or other non-pharmacological methods. Thus, we conducted a PRISMA-ScR-based scoping review to pool studies administering rTMS with psychological and other non-pharmacological methods. PubMed and Web of Science databases were searched from inception to 10 July 2024. Inclusion criteria: neuropsychiatric patients underwent rTMS; studies assessed depressive symptom severity; non-pharmacological tasks or interventions were administered during rTMS, or did not include a wash-out period. Of 8,442 studies, 20 combined rTMS with aerobic exercise, bright light therapy, cognitive training or reactivation, psychotherapy, sleep deprivation, or a psychophysical task. Meta-analyses using random effects models were conducted based on change scores on standardized scales. The effect size was large and therapeutic for uncontrolled pretest-posttest comparisons (17 studies, Hedges'

Indexed as

Major Depressive DisorderPsychotherapyTranscranial Magnetic StimulationCombined Modality TherapyHumansTreatment Outcomebrain statedepressionmeta-analysispsychological interventionsrTMStranscranial magnetic stimulation

Identifiers

PMID40012529
PMCPMC12080665

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

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.