Effect of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on the Working Memory of Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease

Abstract

Background and Aims Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a common neurological disorder that begins with mild memory loss and progresses to severe impairment of executive and cognitive functions. This study aims to investigate the effect of repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on the working memory of patients with AD. Methods In this quasi-experimental study with a pre-test/post-test design, 30 patients with AD aged 55-75 years referred to neurology clinics in Yazd, Iran participated, who were selected using a convenience sampling method and divided into two groups of intervention (n=15) and control (n=15). Active memory was measured by a computerized n-back test, both in terms of reaction time and percentage of accuracy before and after treatment. In the control group, each patient received 10 sessions of inactive rTMS for 20 minutes, while the intervention group received 10 sessions of active rTMS for 20 minutes at a frequency of 10 Hz over the left dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex. Data analysis was performed using analysis of covariance. Results Data analysis results showed that the reaction time significantly decreased, and the percentage of accuracy significantly increased in the n-back test in the intervention group after receiving rTMS compared to the control group (P= 0.001). Conclusion It seems that rTMS over the left dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex can improve the working memory in patients with AD.