Journal of International Psychiatry

Objective: To investigate the effects of transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) on cognitive function in patients with schizophrenia. Methods: 23 cases of inpatients with schizophrenia were selected and randomly divided into the intervention group (n=12) and the control group (n=11).The intervention group used tACS true stimulation and the other group used tACS sham stimulation. The intervention session was 10 times, the true stimulation frequency was 40Hz, the current intensity was 1-2mA, and the stimulation time lasted 20 minutes each time. The stimulation sites were the left dorsolateral prefrontal lobe and the right parietal lobe. Repeated-measures ANOVA was used to compare the differences in MCCB (MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery) and PASAT (Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test) scores between the two groups at baseline, immediately after the intervention (end of week 2), and at follow-up (end of week 6). Results: There was a statistically significant difference in scores on the Continuous Performance Test and the Trail Making Test in the MCCB in the intervention group compared to the control group, and no significant adverse events occurred in either group.Conclusion: tACS can improve attention and information processing speed in schizophrenia and is safe enough to be used as a potential treatment for cognitive deficits in schizophrenia.

Transcranial alternating current stimulation;Schizophrenia; Cognitive function