MeRT® builds on a growing body of third-party, peer-reviewed research into EEG-guided rTMS across several conditions. Here's a summary of what that research covers.
We distinguish peer-reviewed journal studies from news coverage, professional-organization commentary, and preliminary (poster-only or unpublished) findings below. Media coverage and expert commentary can be useful context, but it isn't the same standard of evidence as a published, peer-reviewed study — we label each accordingly. Results in any cited study may not predict results for any individual patient, and treatment protocols in cited studies are not always identical to the MeRT protocol used at Brain Treatment Center Michigan.
rTMS devices are FDA-cleared for treatment-resistant major depressive disorder, and published research has examined TMS as a treatment option for moderate to severe depression, including for patients who haven't responded adequately to medication.
One widely-cited study, Stanford Neuromodulation Therapy (SNT): A Double-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial (Cole et al., American Journal of Psychiatry, 2022), reported remission in a majority of participants with severe, treatment-resistant depression using an accelerated, high-dose protocol delivered over five days.
Published research, including small studies and pilot trials involving military populations, has examined rTMS for PTSD and associated depression symptoms. Some of the most visible PTSD/TMS coverage — including a widely-shared 2019 Defense One feature on active-duty service members — is journalism, not a peer-reviewed study, and several supporting trials in this area are described in conference posters rather than published, peer-reviewed papers.
A growing body of research has examined rTMS in autism spectrum populations, including systematic reviews and meta-analyses looking at behavioral and attention-related outcomes. Most recently, Noninvasive reduction of neural rigidity alters autistic behaviors in humans (Watanabe & Yamasue, Nature Neuroscience, June 2025) found that targeted TMS reduced measures of "neural rigidity" and associated autistic behaviors. See our full research summary on rTMS for autism for additional citations and caveats.
Published research has also examined rTMS for symptoms following traumatic brain injury (including mood and cognitive symptoms) and for anxiety disorders. Evidence in these two areas is generally earlier-stage than for depression — it includes case reports, small pilot studies, and reviews calling for larger controlled trials, rather than the larger randomized trials available for depression.
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