High-Frequency vs. Theta-Burst TMS for Depression

High-frequency rTMS was delivered to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex using the 5 cm rule to localize the target site. Stimulation intensity was set at 100% of the resting motor threshold, determined by visible motor-evoked potentials in the right abductor pollicis brevis muscle. Each session consisted of 1500 pulses at 10 Hz, organized into 10 trains of 15 seconds (150 pulses per train) with 50-second inter-train intervals. Total stimulation time per session was approximately 12.5 minutes. A figure-of-eight coil (70BFX-LQC, Deymed Diagnostics) connected to a DuoMagXT-100 stimulator was used, with the coil positioned at \~45° from the midline, handle pointing posterolaterally.

Intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS) was delivered to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex using the 5 cm rule for target localization. Stimulation intensity was set at 100% of the resting motor threshold, determined by motor-evoked potentials in the right abductor pollicis brevis muscle. Each session consisted of 600 pulses delivered in bursts of three 50 Hz pulses repeated every 200 ms. Trains of 2 seconds were followed by 8-second inter-train intervals. Total stimulation time per session was approximately 3 minutes and 20 seconds. A figure-of-eight coil (70HF-LQC, Deymed Diagnostics) connected to a DuoMagXT-100 stimulator was used, with coil orientation \~45° from the midline, handle pointing posterolaterally.