Association of cognitive function and serum BDNF levels in euthymic bipolar disorder patients treated with rTMS
Description
We hypothesized that rTMS could improve the cognitive function and increase the serum BDNF levels in the active group as compared to the sham group. We also examined the correlation between serum BDNF levels and cognitive function.The document included general data from the subjects, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS), the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB), and the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). T test and χ2-squared test were performed to investigate demographic, baseline clinical variables and 2-weeks follow-up clinical variables between the rTMS group and the control group. Repeated measures ANOVA (RMANOVA) was used to test the significance of cognitive tests and serum BDNF levels. Pearson correlation analyses were performed to examine the relationship of serum levels of BDNF and cognitive variables, HDRS and YMRS scores. The threshold for significance was set at p<0.05. All statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS 21.0. These findings indicated that rTMS could improve working memory and reasoning and problem solving in patients with BD. Moreover, the cognitive benefits may be positively associated with the changes of BDNF levels in euthymic BD patients after rTMS.