Background: The lack of effective pharmacological or behavioral interventions for memory impairments associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) emphasizes the need for the investigation of approaches based on neuromodulation. Objective: This study examined the effects of inhibitory repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of prefrontal cortex on recognition memory in AD patients. Methods: In a first experiment, 24 mild AD patients received sham and real 1Hz rTMS over the left and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), in different sessions, between encoding and retrieval phases of a non-verbal recognition memory task. In a second experiment, another group of 14 AD patients underwent sham controlled repeated sessions of 1Hz rTMS of the right DLPFC across a two week treatment. Non-verbal recognition memory task was performed at baseline, at the end of the two weeks period and at a follow up of 1 month. Results: Right real rTMS significantly improved memory performance compared to right sham rTMS (p  = 0.001). Left real rTMS left the memory performance unchanged as compared with left sham rTMS (p  = 0.46). The two sham conditions did not differ between each other (p  = 0.24). In the second experiment, AD patients treated with real rTMS showed an improvement of memory performance at the end of the two weeks treatment (p  = 0.0009), that persisted at 1-month follow-up (p  = 0.002). Conclusion: These findings provide evidence that inhibitory rTMS over the right DLPFC can improve recognition memory function in AD patients. They also suggest the importance of a new approach of non-invasive brain stimulation as a promising treatment in AD.

Turriziani, P., Smirni, D., Mangano, G.R., Zappalà, G., Giustiniani, A., Cipolotti, L., et al. (2019). Low-Frequency Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of the Right Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Enhances Recognition Memory in Alzheimer’s Disease. JOURNAL OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE, 72(2), 613-622 [10.3233/JAD-190888].

Low-Frequency Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of the Right Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Enhances Recognition Memory in Alzheimer’s Disease

Turriziani, Patrizia
;
Smirni, Daniela;Mangano, Giuseppa Renata;Giustiniani, Andreina;Oliveri, Massimiliano
2019-01-01

Abstract

Background: The lack of effective pharmacological or behavioral interventions for memory impairments associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) emphasizes the need for the investigation of approaches based on neuromodulation. Objective: This study examined the effects of inhibitory repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of prefrontal cortex on recognition memory in AD patients. Methods: In a first experiment, 24 mild AD patients received sham and real 1Hz rTMS over the left and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), in different sessions, between encoding and retrieval phases of a non-verbal recognition memory task. In a second experiment, another group of 14 AD patients underwent sham controlled repeated sessions of 1Hz rTMS of the right DLPFC across a two week treatment. Non-verbal recognition memory task was performed at baseline, at the end of the two weeks period and at a follow up of 1 month. Results: Right real rTMS significantly improved memory performance compared to right sham rTMS (p  = 0.001). Left real rTMS left the memory performance unchanged as compared with left sham rTMS (p  = 0.46). The two sham conditions did not differ between each other (p  = 0.24). In the second experiment, AD patients treated with real rTMS showed an improvement of memory performance at the end of the two weeks treatment (p  = 0.0009), that persisted at 1-month follow-up (p  = 0.002). Conclusion: These findings provide evidence that inhibitory rTMS over the right DLPFC can improve recognition memory function in AD patients. They also suggest the importance of a new approach of non-invasive brain stimulation as a promising treatment in AD.
2019
Turriziani, P., Smirni, D., Mangano, G.R., Zappalà, G., Giustiniani, A., Cipolotti, L., et al. (2019). Low-Frequency Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of the Right Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Enhances Recognition Memory in Alzheimer’s Disease. JOURNAL OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE, 72(2), 613-622 [10.3233/JAD-190888].
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10447/380468
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