Sanne J.H. van Rooij reported in the Amer. J. Psychiatry (2026) that low frequency repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation (1 Hz rTMS) twice daily for 10 days over the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (in an area that connects with the right amygdala) had very positive effects in most aspects of PTSD compared to sham stimulation. They saw that: “Hyperarousal symptoms were also markedly lower in the active TMS group at 3-6 months post-therapy, compared with those in the placebo group."

“We think that the full behavioral effects of active stimulation may take some time to emerge…. They suggested that targeted treatment with accelerated TMS like that delivered in the trial may, over time, change the brain in ways that render trauma-related memories less likely to result in hyperarousal, and more likely that trauma memories can be accepted and lived with, resulting in an ability of patients to “take their lives back.”

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