{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,20]],"date-time":"2026-03-20T09:49:28Z","timestamp":1774000168137,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":44,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,20]],"date-time":"2026-03-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1773964800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004919","name":"King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["Project No. 08-MED 510-02"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Project No. 08-MED 510-02"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004919","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychiatry"],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects individuals across multiple life domains. Despite this, therapeutic options remain scarce, with none officially approved for its treatment. One recently explored treatment modality is repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), a noninvasive neurostimulation intervention. This study examines the effectiveness of low-frequency rTMS in improving social, cognitive, and sensory function in individuals with ASD.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Method<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The study included 35 children aged 5 to 10 years who had been diagnosed with ASD. Participants were randomly assigned to two groups: 17 children received rTMS treatment twice weekly (active group), while the remaining 18 served as a waitlist (WTL) control group. Outcome measures were collected at baseline (preintervention) and 3 weeks after the completion of the 9-week rTMS intervention (postintervention).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Significant (\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      &amp;lt; 0.05) improvements in cognitive, social, and sensory functions were observed in the active group measures 3 weeks after the 9-week rTMS intervention (postintervention). This was evidenced by their Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS), Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS), and Short Sensory Profile (SSP) scores (27.47 \u00b1 7.95, 71.59 \u00b1 11.55, and 156.47 \u00b1 20.17, respectively), with a highly significant reduction in sensory hypersensitivity (\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      = 0.001) compared to the WLT group, which presented more severe scores on CARS (35.89 \u00b1 8.96), SRS (81.72 \u00b1 7.68), and SSP (133.67 \u00b1 11.65). Additionally, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were analyzed. CARS, SRS, and SSP recorded poor areas under the curve (AUCs) in the active pre-rTMS group (0.557, 0.565, and 0.574, respectively), while all ROC curves showed significantly higher AUCs in post-rTMS (0.775, 0.753, and 0.825, respectively).\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The findings of this study suggest that low-frequency rTMS may have potential as an adjunctive intervention for specific ASD-related symptoms in social, cognitive, and sensory domains. However, further research is warranted to validate and expand these preliminary observations.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Clinical Trial Registration<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      <jats:ext-link>https:\/\/clinicaltrials.gov\/study\/NCT06524310<\/jats:ext-link>\n                      , identifier NCT06524310.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyt.2026.1725598","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,20]],"date-time":"2026-03-20T06:38:52Z","timestamp":1773988732000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Therapeutic potential of low-frequency transcranial magnetic stimulation in children with autism spectrum disorder: sensory and behavioral outcomes\u2014a randomized trial"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Hayfa","family":"Al-Ghabban","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anatomy and Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, College of Medicine, Imam Mohammed Ibn Saud Islamic University","place":["Riyadh, Saudi Arabia"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Fahad A.","family":"Bashiri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Pediatric Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, King Saud University Medical City, King Saud University","place":["Riyadh, Saudi Arabia"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Shuliweeh","family":"Alenezi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, King Saud University","place":["Riyadh, Saudi Arabia"]},{"name":"SABIC Psychological Health Research and Applications Chair (SPHRAC), Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, King Saud University","place":["Riyadh, Saudi Arabia"]},{"name":"General Administration of Mental and Social Health, Assistant Agency for Hospital Services, Ministry of Health","place":["Riyadh, Saudi Arabia"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Afaf","family":"El-Ansary","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Autism Center, Lotus Holistic Medical Center","place":["Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates"]},{"name":"Autism Research and Treatment Center, Faculty of Medicine, King Saud University","place":["Riyadh, Saudi Arabia"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Asad","family":"Sabr","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medicare Specialized Clinics","place":["Riyadh, Saudi Arabia"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Laila","family":"Alayadhi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Autism Research and Treatment Center, Faculty of Medicine, King Saud University","place":["Riyadh, Saudi Arabia"]},{"name":"Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, King Saud University","place":["Riyadh, Saudi Arabia"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,20]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.15585\/mmwr.ss7402a1","article-title":"Prevalence and early identification of autism spectrum disorder among children aged 4 and 8 years \u2014 Autism and developmental disabilities monitoring network, 16 sites, United States, 2022","volume":"74","author":"Shaw","year":"2025","journal-title":"MMWR Surveillance Summaries"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s10803-025-06804-0","article-title":"Examining behavioral interventions for infancy and early toddlerhood: A systematic review of intervention effects, parameters, and participants","author":"Simacek","year":"2025","journal-title":"J Autism Dev Disord"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s13229-024-00585-6","article-title":"Pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions for irritability in autism spectrum disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis with the GRADE assessment","volume":"15","author":"Choi","year":"2024","journal-title":"Mol Autism"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3","DOI":"10.1007\/s40614-022-00338-x","article-title":"Applied behavior analysis in children and youth with autism spectrum disorders: A scoping review","volume":"45","author":"Gitimoghaddam","year":"2022","journal-title":"Perspect. 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