Current Updates on Newer Forms of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Major Depression

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is an FDA-approved technique for treating medication-resistant depression. Conventional rTMS includes high frequency (HF) to left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and low frequency to right DLPFC. However, not all depressed patients could benefit from standard rTMS protocols. Meta-analytical evidence indicated that there was an average response rate of 29.3% for patients receiving the most commonly adopted HF rTMS to the left DLPFC. Hence, newer forms of rTMS paradigms are warranted to improve antidepressant response and remission rate in patients with depression, especially those who are refractory to adequate antidepressant trials. In the current chapter, we review newer forms of rTMS paradigms and the content will cover standard theta burst stimulation (TBS), prolonged iTBS (piTBS), accelerated rTMS (aTMS), deep TMS (dTMS), priming TMS (pTMS), synchronized TMS (sTMS), and magnetic seizure therapy (MST).