Increasing Physical Activity among Breast Cancer Survivors by Modulating Temporal Orientation with rTMS: Feasibility and Potential Efficacy

Maintaining adequate amounts of physical activity is a critical component of survivorship care for women with breast cancer. Increased physical activity is associated with increases in well-being, quality of life, and longevity, but women with cancer face unique, cancer-related factors that might affect physical activity. Consistent with the Competing Neurobehavioral Decision Systems model of decision making, we proposed to decrease delay discounting and increase physical activity by stimulating the executive function system via high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (HF rTMS) of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (LDLPFC). This randomized, sham-controlled, double-blinded trial examined the feasibility and potential efficacy of this approach to increase physical activity in breast cancer survivors. We hypothesized that active rTMS would significantly increase the mean number of steps per day and decrease delay discounting. Participants ( n = 30) were primarily middle-aged (M = 53.7, SD = 7.9) and white with a mean BMI and body mass indices below 40. Indicators of feasibility and limited efficacy testing were positive. Although repeated-measures ANOVA revealed no significant changes in delay discounting, generalized estimating equations (GEE) found that participants in the active condition increased their mean daily steps by 400 steps per day, while those in the sham condition decreased this by nearly 600 steps per day. These findings indicate that the continued investigation of HF rTMS for increasing physical activity among women with breast cancer is justified.