Case Report: Successful Use of the Combination of Electroconvulsive Therapy and Clozapine in Treating Treatment-Resistant Schizophrenia and Catatonia in an Adult with Intellectual Disability.

There is paucity of empirical data regarding the use of either clozapine or electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in the acute phase and maintenance treatment of schizophrenia in adults with intellectual disability. Herein we report the successful acute and long-term remission of psychotic symptoms and catatonia with the combination of clozapine and ECT in a 26-year-old female with moderate ID and treatment-resistant schizophrenia. To our knowledge, this is the first case example of the successful use of the combination of bilateral, standard-pulse ECT and clozapine in both acute and long-term treatment of treatment-resistant schizophrenia and catatonia in an adult with ID.

Non-invasive brain stimulation for negative symptoms in schizophrenia: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Schizophrenia is a mental disorder with significant socioeconomic burden. Although current pharmacological treatments are effective for treating positive symptoms, medications have little-to-no effect in the treatment of negative symptoms.

Objective: To assess the efficacy of non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) for negative symptoms in schizophrenia in randomized clinical trials (RCTs).

Assessing and Stabilizing Aberrant Neuroplasticity in Autism Spectrum Disorder: The Potential Role of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation.

Exciting developments have taken place in the neuroscience research in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and results from these studies indicate that brain in ASD is associated with aberrant neuroplasticity. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has rapidly evolved to become a widely used, safe, and non-invasive neuroscientific tool to investigate a variety of neurophysiological processes, including neuroplasticity. The diagnostic and therapeutic potential of TMS in ASD is beginning to be realized.

A transcranial magnetic stimulation study of abnormal cortical inhibition in schizophrenia.

Previous research suggests that patients with schizophrenia demonstrate deficits in a range of parameters of motor cortical and cognitive inhibition. I-wave facilitation and long-interval cortical inhibition (LICI) are two paired pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation paradigms that appear to assess aspects of cortical inhibitory function that have not previously been assessed in this patient group. Eighteen patients with schizophrenia (nine medication-free) were compared with eight control subjects.