Continuous theta burst stimulation over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex decreases medium load working memory performance in healthy humans

Nathalie Schicktanz, Matthias Fastenrath, Annette Milnik, Klara Spalek, Bianca Auschra, Thomas Nyffeler, Andreas Papassotiropoulos, Dominique J-F de Quervain, Kyrill Schwegler, Nathalie Schicktanz, Matthias Fastenrath, Annette Milnik, Klara Spalek, Bianca Auschra, Thomas Nyffeler, Andreas Papassotiropoulos, Dominique J-F de Quervain, Kyrill Schwegler

Abstract

The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) plays a key role in working memory. Evidence indicates that transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) over the DLPFC can interfere with working memory performance. Here we investigated for how long continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS) over the DLPFC decreases working memory performance and whether the effect of cTBS on performance depends on working memory load. Forty healthy young subjects received either cTBS over the left DLPFC or sham stimulation before performing a 2-, and 3-back working memory letter task. An additional 0-back condition served as a non-memory-related control, measuring general attention. cTBS over the left DLPFC significantly impaired 2-back working memory performance for about 15 min, whereas 3-back and 0-back performances were not significantly affected. Our results indicate that the effect of left DLPFC cTBS on working memory performance lasts for roughly 15 min and depends on working memory load.

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1. Brain activity related to working…
Fig 1. Brain activity related to working memory.
Prefrontal activity, color-coded t values (pwhole-brain-FWE-corrected< 0.05; N = 707). The white circles depict the area within the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex stimulated by TMS (centered at [–53, 31, 25] in Montreal Neurological Institute space). Activations are overlaid on coronal (top left), sagittal (top right), and axial (bottom left) sections of a study-specific group template. L, left side of the brain; R, right side of the brain.
Fig 2. Stimulation effects on delta ACC…
Fig 2. Stimulation effects on delta ACC 2-back, separately for each block after TMS.
A nominal significant effect of stimulation could be detected up to block four, corresponding to 15 min after TMS (including 3 min for participant reallocation to the computer screen after TMS). Values higher than 100 indicate an improved performance compared to the last block before TMS, while values below 100 indicate decreased performance.

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