title: Is rTMS an effective therapeutic strategy that can be used to treat anxiety disorders?
abstract: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a non-invasive procedure whereby a pulsed magnetic field stimulates electrical activity in the brain. Anxiety disorders are the most common of all mental health problems for which effective, mechanism-based treatments remain elusive. Consequently, more advanced non-invasive therapeutic methods are required. A possible method to modulate brain activity and potentially viable for use in clinical practice is rTMS. Here, we focus on the main findings of rTMS from animal models of anxiety and the experimental advances of rTMS that may become a viable clinical application to treat anxiety disorders, one of the most common causes of disability in the workplace in the world. Key advances in combining rTMS with neuroimaging technology may aid such future developments. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled 'Anxiety and Depression'.
authors.affiliation: Panic & Respiration Laboratory, Institute of Psychiatry, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Machado
authors.forename: Flávia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Paes
authors.forename: Bruna
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Velasques
authors.forename: Silmar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Teixeira
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Piedade
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.forename: Antonio E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Nardi
authors.forename: Oscar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Arias-Carrión
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans; D050781:Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome