Effects of Continuous Theta Burst Stimulation to the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex on Attention to Emotional Stimuli
2025 — cTBS and emotional attention
Question
Does real cTBS over the left or right DLPFC alter attentional responses to pleasant/distressing versus neutral stimuli?
Population
91 healthy young adults randomized to real/sham stimulation over the left/right DLPFC.
Finding
Participants receiving real cTBS showed differential response times to emotional versus neutral stimuli; no comparable difference appeared in sham conditions. No meaningful left/right hemisphere difference emerged for pleasant versus distressing images.
Why it matters
This provides additional experimental evidence that the DLPFC can be manipulated to alter a proximal emotional-attention mechanism.
Inference boundary
- no APD/ASPD population;
- no APD/ASPD symptom endpoint;
- no aggression endpoint;
- no demonstration of durable clinical change.
This node strengthens the mechanism branch but does not close the clinical-treatment inference gate.
