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Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex enhances working memory

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Abstract

Neuroimaging and electrophysiological studies have unequivocally identified the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) as a crucial structure for top-down control of working memory (WM) processes. By modulating the excitability of neurons in a targeted cortical area, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) offers a unique way to modulate DLPFC function, opening the possibility of WM facilitation. Even though TMS neuromodulation effects over the left DLPFC have successfully improved WM performance in patients with depression and schizophrenia in a multitude of studies, raising the potential of TMS as a safe efficacious treatment for WM deficits, TMS interventions in healthy individuals have produced mixed and inconclusive results. Here, we stimulated the left DLPFC of healthy individuals using a high-frequency repetitive TMS protocol and evaluated behavioral performance in a battery of cognitive tasks. We found that TMS treatment enhanced WM performance in a verbal digit span and a visuospatial 2-back task.

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We are grateful to Santani Teng for assistance in editing this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Cognitive Science Studies, Tehran, Iran

    Yasaman Bagherzadeh, Anahita Khorrami, Mohammad Reza Zarrindast & Seyed Vahid Shariat

  2. Iranian National Center for Addiction Studies, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Mohammad Reza Zarrindast

  3. Mental Health Research Center, Tehran Institute of Psychiatry-School of Behavioral Sciences and Mental Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Seyed Vahid Shariat

  4. McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Yasaman Bagherzadeh & Dimitrios Pantazis

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  1. Yasaman Bagherzadeh
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Correspondence to Anahita Khorrami.

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Bagherzadeh, Y., Khorrami, A., Zarrindast, M.R. et al. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex enhances working memory. Exp Brain Res 234, 1807–1818 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-016-4580-1

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