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Because negative symptoms of schizophrenia have been associated with low activity in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), researchers in a sham-controlled, Brazilian study examined the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in 95 schizophrenia patients with prominent negative symptoms. The device is commercially available but does not have FDA approval.
The anode (excitatory electrode) was placed over the left PFC, and the cathode was placed over the left temporoparietal junction. Treatments were administered twice daily for 5 days. Active tDCS was significantly better than sham tDCS in reducing negative symptoms at 6 weeks, with a clinically important number needed to treat for one person to benefit of 3.18. Improvement was maint…