scholarly journals Cognitive Improvement Via Left Angular Gyrus-Navigated Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Inducing the Neuroplasticity of Thalamic System in Alzheimer’s Disease Spectrum Patients

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhiyuan Yang ◽  
Xiaoning Sheng ◽  
Ruomeng Qin ◽  
Haifeng Chen ◽  
Pengfei Shao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Diffusion Tensor ◽  
Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Disease Process ◽  
Functional Network ◽  
Angular Gyrus ◽  
Cognitive Improvement ◽  
Left Angular Gyrus

Abstract Background: Stimulating superficial brain regions highly associated with the hippocampus by repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) may improve memory of Alzheimer disease (AD) spectrum patients. Methods: We recruited 26 mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and AD patients. All the patients were stimulated to the left angular gyrus, which was confirmed a strong link to the hippocampus through neuroimaging studies, by the neuro-navigated rTMS for four weeks. Automated fiber quantification (AFQ) using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) metrics and graph theory analysis on functional network were employed to detect the neuroplasticity of brain networks. Results: After neuro-navigated rTMS intervention, the episodic memory and language function of patients were significantly improved. Increased white matter integrity of right anterior thalamic radiation among MCI patients, while decreased functional network properties of thalamus subregions were observed. It is worth noting that the improvement of cognition was associated with the neuroplasticity of thalamic systemConclusions: We speculated that the rTMS intervention targeting left angular gyrus may be served as a strategy to improve cognitive impairment in AD spectrum patients, supporting by the neuroplasticity of thalamic system, especially in the early disease process at the stage of MCI.

scholarly journals The Effects of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on Cognitive Impairment and the Brain Lipidome in a Cuprizone-Induced Mouse Model of Demyelination

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cuihong Zhou ◽  
Min Cai ◽  
Ying Wang ◽  
Wenjun Wu ◽  
Yuezhen Yin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Protective Effects ◽  
Brain Lipids ◽  
Cognitive Improvement ◽  
Y Maze ◽  
The Brain

The protective effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on myelin integrity have been extensively studied, and growing evidence suggests that rTMS is beneficial in improving cognitive functions and promoting myelin repair. However, the association between cognitive improvement due to rTMS and changes in brain lipids remains elusive. In this study, we used the Y-maze and 3-chamber tests, as well as a mass spectrometry-based lipidomic approach in a CPZ-induced demyelination model in mice to assess the protective effects of rTMS on cuprizone (CPZ)-induced cognitive impairment and evaluate changes in lipid composition in the hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, and striatum. We found that CPZ induced cognitive impairment and remarkable changes in brain lipids, specifically in glycerophospholipids. Moreover, the changes in lipids within the prefrontal cortex were more extensive, compared to those observed in the hippocampus and striatum. Notably, rTMS ameliorated CPZ-induced cognitive impairment and partially normalized CPZ-induced lipid changes. Taken together, our data suggest that rTMS may reverse cognitive behavioral changes caused by CPZ-induced demyelination by modulating the brain lipidome, providing new insights into the therapeutic mechanism of rTMS.

scholarly journals A pilot trial of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation of the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex in anorexia nervosa: resting fMRI correlates of response

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Blake Woodside ◽  
Katharine Dunlop ◽  
Charlene Sathi ◽  
Eileen Lam ◽  
Brigitte McDonald ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Trial Registration ◽  
Angular Gyrus ◽  
Open Label ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Dorsomedial Prefrontal Cortex

Abstract Background Patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) face severe and chronic illness with high mortality rates, despite our best currently available conventional treatments. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has shown increasing efficacy in treatment-refractory cases across a variety of psychiatric disorders comorbid with AN, including major depression, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and Post traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). However, to date few studies have examined the effects of a course of rTMS on AN pathology itself. Methods Nineteen patients with AN underwent a 20–30 session open-label course of dorsomedial prefrontal rTMS for comorbid Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) ± PTSD. Resting-state functional MRI was acquired at baseline in 16/19 patients. Results Following treatment, significant improvements were seen in core AN pathology on the EDE global scale, and to a lesser extent on the shape and weight concerns subscales. Significant improvements in comorbid anxiety, and to a lesser extent depression, also ensued. The greatest improvements were seen in patients with lower baseline functional connectivity from the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC) target to regions in the right frontal pole and left angular gyrus. Conclusions Despite the limited size of this preliminary, open-label study, the results suggest that rTMS is safe in AN, and may be useful in addressing some core domains of AN pathology. Other targets may also be worth studying in this population, in future sham-controlled trials with larger sample sizes. Trial registration Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04409704. Registered May 282,020. Retrospectively registered.

scholarly journals Evaluation and Treatment of Vascular Cognitive Impairment by Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Mariagiovanna Cantone ◽  
Giuseppe Lanza ◽  
Francesco Fisicaro ◽  
Manuela Pennisi ◽  
Rita Bella ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Synaptic Plasticity ◽  
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Cortical Excitability ◽  
Disease Process ◽  
Vascular Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Disease Modifying Drugs

The exact relationship between cognitive functioning, cortical excitability, and synaptic plasticity in dementia is not completely understood. Vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) is deemed to be the most common cognitive disorder in the elderly since it encompasses any degree of vascular-based cognitive decline. In different cognitive disorders, including VCI, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) can be exploited as a noninvasive tool able to evaluate in vivo the cortical excitability, the propension to undergo neural plastic phenomena, and the underlying transmission pathways. Overall, TMS in VCI revealed enhanced cortical excitability and synaptic plasticity that seem to correlate with the disease process and progression. In some patients, such plasticity may be considered as an adaptive response to disease progression, thus allowing the preservation of motor programming and execution. Recent findings also point out the possibility to employ TMS to predict cognitive deterioration in the so-called “brains at risk” for dementia, which may be those patients who benefit more of disease-modifying drugs and rehabilitative or neuromodulatory approaches, such as those based on repetitive TMS (rTMS). Finally, TMS can be exploited to select the responders to specific drugs in the attempt to maximize the response and to restore maladaptive plasticity. While no single TMS index owns enough specificity, a panel of TMS-derived measures can support VCI diagnosis and identify early markers of progression into dementia. This work reviews all TMS and rTMS studies on VCI. The aim is to evaluate how cortical excitability, plasticity, and connectivity interact in the pathophysiology of the impairment and to provide a translational perspective towards novel treatments of these patients. Current pitfalls and limitations of both studies and techniques are also discussed, together with possible solutions and future research agenda.

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