title: Enhancement of Working Memory and Task-Related Oscillatory Activity Following Intermittent Theta Burst Stimulation in Healthy Controls.
abstract: Noninvasive brain stimulation is increasingly being investigated for the enhancement of cognition, yet current approaches appear to be limited in their degree and duration of effects. The majority of studies to date have delivered stimulation in "standard" ways (i.e., anodal transcranial direct current stimulation or high-frequency transcranial magnetic stimulation). Specialized forms of stimulation, such as theta burst stimulation (TBS), which more closely mimic the brains natural firing patterns may have greater effects on cognitive performance. We report here the findings from the first-ever investigation into the persistent cognitive and electrophysiological effects of intermittent TBS (iTBS) delivered to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. In 19 healthy controls, active iTBS significantly improved performance on an assessment of working memory when compared with sham stimulation across a period of 40 min post stimulation. The behavioral findings were accompanied by increases in task-related fronto-parietal theta sychronization and parietal gamma band power. These results have implications for the role of more specialized stimulation approaches in neuromodulation.
authors.affiliation: Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, The Alfred and Monash University, Central Clinical School, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia kate.hoy@monash.edu.
authors.forename: Kate E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Hoy
authors.affiliation: Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, The Alfred and Monash University, Central Clinical School, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia.
authors.forename: Neil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.affiliation: Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, The Alfred and Monash University, Central Clinical School, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Michael
authors.affiliation: Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, The Alfred and Monash University, Central Clinical School, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia.
authors.forename: Bernadette
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fitzgibbon
authors.affiliation: Monash Clinical and Imaging Neuroscience, School of Psychological Science and Monash Biomedical Imaging, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3800, Australia.
authors.forename: Nigel C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Rogasch
authors.affiliation: Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, The Alfred and Monash University, Central Clinical School, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia.
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Saeki
authors.affiliation: Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, The Alfred and Monash University, Central Clinical School, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia.
authors.forename: Paul B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Fitzgerald
mesh_terms: D003344:Cortical Synchronization / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D065818:Gamma Rhythm / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D013826:Theta Rhythm / Q000502:physiology*; D050781:Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: cortical oscillations; dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; theta burst stimulation; working memory