Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and Use of EEG in Predicting the Response to Treatment

The power of the quantitative EEG (qEEG) to predict the response to treatment was evaluated by using the right prefrontal transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) treatment in addition to the machine learning approach in obsessive compulsive disorder (OCB).

The study retrospectively included 50 OCB patients, who received right frontal low frequency stimulation treatments (35 being responsive to TMS treatment; 15 being non-responsive to TMS treatment).

All patients were diagnosed with OCB as per the DSM-IV-TR and DSM-5 criteria, and the frequency powers of the patients were checked prior to treatment. Creating an artificial neural network prior to the TMS treatment, machine learning methods were utilized in order to research the power of EEG to predict the response to treatment.

Of four EEG frequencies, the theta power successfully distinguished treatment-responsive patients from non-treatment-responsive patients. The theta powers of the treatment-responsive patients were found to be higher than those of the non-treatment-responsive patients.

Consequently, it can be said that the quantitative EEG can be useful prior to the comparison of the OCB treatment strategies.

SOURCE:
Metin S.Z., Altuglu T.B., Metin B., Erguzel T.T., Yigit S., Arıkan M.K., Tarhan N. (2019). Use of EEG for Predicting Treatment Response to Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Clinical EEG and Neuroscience.