Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Memory Improvement
Recruiting in Palo Alto (17 mi)
Age: 18+
Sex: Any
Travel: May be covered
Time Reimbursement: Varies
Trial Phase: Academic
Recruiting
Sponsor: University of Nebraska
No Placebo Group
Approved in 3 jurisdictions
Trial Summary
What is the purpose of this trial?This is a pilot study of non-invasive transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to improve memory in healthy adults. It will also examine treating memory deficits in older adults with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), a condition that frequently precedes Alzheimer's disease (AD). The study will test whether a form of non-invasive brain stimulation repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) can improve memory abilities in healthy young adults, healthy older adults, and older adults with aMCI by retuning memory-related brain networks. This study is a key first step which will support the long-term goal of treating memory deficits in neurological patients. It is expected that rTMS will improve memory abilities in all participants, and that the improvements in memory will be attributable to changes in the connectivity of memory-related brain networks.
How does the treatment Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Memory Improvement differ from other treatments for memory issues?
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) is unique because it uses magnetic fields to non-invasively stimulate specific areas of the brain, potentially improving memory by enhancing brain plasticity and function. Unlike medications, TMS directly targets brain regions associated with memory, offering a novel approach for conditions like Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment.
24678Is transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) safe for humans?
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), including its repetitive form (rTMS), has been studied for safety since the 1990s. It is generally considered safe, with guidelines established to minimize risks like seizures. Mild side effects such as headaches and nausea can occur, but serious adverse effects are rare.
135911What data supports the effectiveness of the treatment Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Memory Improvement?
Research suggests that repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) may help improve memory in conditions like mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. Studies have shown that rTMS can modulate brain activity related to memory, potentially enhancing memory performance.
2671012Will I have to stop taking my current medications?
The trial does not specify if you need to stop taking your current medications. However, if you are using medication that lowers the seizure threshold, you may not be eligible to participate.
Eligibility Criteria
This trial is for adults over 19, either healthy or with mild memory issues (aMCI), who can follow instructions and sit still for tests. They must be right-handed and speak English natively. It's not for those with metal implants (except dental), major illnesses, substance abuse problems, seizures, other neurological disorders, or pregnant women.Inclusion Criteria
I am a healthy adult with no psychiatric or neurological diseases, or I have been diagnosed with amnestic MCI.
I am 19 years old or older.
Exclusion Criteria
I have high pressure inside my skull.
I have aMCI but no other neurological disorders like stroke or brain injury.
I have a major medical condition like cancer, HIV, hepatitis, or heart disease.
I have epilepsy, a history of seizures, or take medication that could lower my seizure threshold.
Participant Groups
The study is testing if targeted brain stimulation using rTMS can improve memory in healthy young and older adults as well as those with aMCI by affecting brain network connectivity related to memory.
2Treatment groups
Experimental Treatment
Group I: Arm B: Sham then StimulationExperimental Treatment1 Intervention
All procedures are identical in both arms with the exception of the order of stimulation administration. In Arm B, sham stimulation will be applied in the first week of participation, and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) will be applied in the second week of participation.
Group II: Arm A: Stimulation then ShamExperimental Treatment1 Intervention
All procedures are identical in both arms with the exception of the order of stimulation administration. In Arm A, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) will be applied in the first week of participation, and sham stimulation will be applied in the second week of participation.
Targeted Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation is already approved in United States, European Union, Canada for the following indications:
🇺🇸 Approved in United States as Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for:
- Major depressive disorder
- Migraine prevention
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder
- Smoking cessation
- Cognitive enhancement in certain neurological conditions
🇪🇺 Approved in European Union as Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for:
- Major depressive disorder
- Bipolar disorder
- Anxiety disorders
- Chronic pain management
- Cognitive rehabilitation
🇨🇦 Approved in Canada as Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for:
- Major depressive disorder
- Treatment-resistant depression
- Bipolar disorder
- Anxiety disorders
- Chronic pain management
Find A Clinic Near You
Research locations nearbySelect from list below to view details:
University of Nebraska Medical CenterOmaha, NE
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Who is running the clinical trial?
University of NebraskaLead Sponsor
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)Collaborator
References
Risk and safety of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation: report and suggested guidelines from the International Workshop on the Safety of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, June 5-7, 1996. [2022]Single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a safe and useful tool for investigating various aspects of human neurophysiology, particularly corticospinal function, in health and disease. Repetitive TMS (rTMS), however, is a more powerful and potentially dangerous modality, capable of regionally blocking or facilitating cortical processes. Although there is evidence that rTMS is useful for treating clinical depression, and possibly other brain disorders, it had caused 7 known seizures by 1996 and could have other undesirable effects. In June 1996 a workshop was organized to review the available data on the safety of rTMS and to develop guidelines for its safe use. This article summarizes the workshop's deliberations. In addition to issues of risk and safety, it also addresses the principles and applications of rTMS, nomenclature, and potential therapeutic effects of rTMS. The guidelines for the use of rTMS, which are summarized in an appendix, cover the ethical issues, recommended limits on stimulation parameters, monitoring of subjects (both physiologically and neuropsychologically), expertise and function of the rTMS team, medical and psychosocial management of induced seizures, and contra-indications to rTMS.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation can measure and modulate learning and memory. [2019]The potential uses for Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) in the study of learning and memory range from a method to map the topography and intensity of motor output maps during visuomotor learning to inducing reversible lesions that allow for the precise temporal and spatial dissection of the brain processes underlying learning and remembering. Single-pulse TMS appears to be adequate to examine motor output maps but repetitive TMS (rTMS) appears necessary to affect most cognitive processes in measurable ways. The results we have reviewed in this article indicate that rTMS may have a potential clinical application in patients with epilepsy in whom it is important to identify the lateralization of verbal memory. Single-pulse TMS can help identify changes in motor output maps during training, that may indicate improved or diminished learning and memory processes following a stroke or other neurological insult. Other evidence indicates that rTMS may even have the capability of facilitating various aspects of memory performance. From a research perspective. rTMS has demonstrated site- and time-specific effects primarily in interfering with explicit retrieval of episodic information from long-term memory. rTMS may also be able to modulate retrieval from semantic memory as evidenced by response-time and accuracy changes after rTMS. All these findings suggest that the use of transcranial magnetic stimulation in the study of learning and memory will increase in the future and that it is already a valuable tool in the cognitive neuroscientists' belt.
Side effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation. [2005]The side effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation are largely unexplored and the limits of safe exposure have not been determined except as regards the acute production of seizures. Although tissue damage is unlikely, however, cognitive and other adverse effects have been observed and the possibility of unintended long-term changes in brain function are theoretically possible.
Brain stimulation improves associative memory in an individual with amnestic mild cognitive impairment. [2016]In patients with cognitive deficits, brain stimulation has been shown to restore cognition ( Miniussi et al., 2008 , Brain Stimulation, 1, 326). The aim of this study was to assess whether repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) could improve memory performance in an individual with amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI). Stimulation of the left parietal cortex increased accuracy in an association memory task, and this improvement was still significant 24 weeks after stimulation began. These findings indicate that rTMS to the left parietal cortex improved memory performance in aMCI.
Comparative incidence rates of mild adverse effects to transcranial magnetic stimulation. [2022]Past research has largely neglected to investigate mild adverse effects (MAEs) to transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), including headache and nausea. Here we explored the relationship between MAEs, participant characteristics (age and gender) and protocol parameters, including mode of application, coil geometry, stimulated brain region, TMS frequency, TMS intensity, and active vs. sham stimulation.
Precision Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Over the Left Parietal Cortex Improves Memory in Alzheimer's Disease: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Sham-Controlled Study. [2022]We aim to study the effect of precision repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over the left parietal cortex on the memory and cognitive function in Alzheimer's disease (AD).
Stimulating Memory: Reviewing Interventions Using Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation to Enhance or Restore Memory Abilities. [2022]Human memory systems are imperfect recording devices that are affected by age and disease, but recent findings suggest that the functionality of these systems may be modifiable through interventions using non-invasive brain stimulation such as repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). The translational potential of these rTMS interventions is clear: memory problems are the most common cognitive complaint associated with healthy aging, while pathological conditions such as Alzheimer's disease are often associated with severe deficits in memory. Therapies to improve memory or treat memory loss could enhance independence while reducing costs for public health systems. Despite this promise, several important factors limit the generalizability and translational potential of rTMS interventions for memory. Heterogeneity of protocol design, rTMS parameters, and outcome measures present significant challenges to interpretation and reproducibility. However, recent advances in cognitive neuroscience, including rTMS approaches and recent insights regarding functional brain networks, may offer methodological tools necessary to design new interventional studies with enhanced experimental rigor, improved reproducibility, and greater likelihood of successful translation to clinical settings. In this review, we first discuss the current state of the literature on memory modulation with rTMS, then offer a commentary on developments in cognitive neuroscience that are relevant to rTMS interventions, and finally close by offering several recommendations for the design of future investigations using rTMS to modulate human memory performance.
Cognitive Improvement via Left Angular Gyrus-Navigated Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Inducing the Neuroplasticity of Thalamic System in Amnesic Mild Cognitive Impairment Patients. [2022]Stimulating superficial brain regions highly associated with the hippocampus by repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) may improve memory of Alzheimer's disease (AD) spectrum patients.
Image-guided TMS is safe in a predominately pediatric clinical population. [2022]The safety of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has been previously evaluated in healthy volunteers and clinical adult populations. We sought to fill the gap in safety of TMS functional mapping in a clinical, predominately pediatric cohort.
The effect of transcranial magnetic stimulation on the recovery of attention and memory impairment following stroke: a systematic review and meta-analysis. [2023]Previous studies indicated inconsistent results for the treatment effect of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on attention and memory impairment following stroke.
Safety Review for Clinical Application of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. [2023]Studies using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in healthy individuals and those with neuropsychiatric diseases have rapidly increased since the 1990s, due to the potential of rTMS to modulate the cortical excitability in the brain depending on the stimulation parameters; therefore, the safety considerations for rTMS use are expected to become more important. Wassermann published the first safety guidelines for rTMS from the consensus conference held in 1996, and Rossi and colleague then published the second safety guidelines from the multidisciplinary consensus meeting held in Siena, Italy in 2008, on behalf of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. More than 10 years after the second guidelines, the updated third safety guidelines were recently published in 2021. The general safety guidelines for conventional rTMS have not substantially changed. Because the most frequently used rTMS protocol is conventional (low- and high-frequency) rTMS in research and clinical settings, we focus on reviewing safety issues when applying conventional rTMS with a focal cortical stimulation coil. The following issues will be covered: 1) possible adverse events induced by rTMS; 2) checklists to screen for any precautions and risks before rTMS; 3) safety considerations for dosing conventional rTMS; and 4) safety considerations for using rTMS in stroke and traumatic brain injury.
High-Frequency rTMS Could Improve Impaired Memory in Mild Cognitive Impairment Patients in China: A Randomized Controlled Study. [2023]The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on improving memory deficits in mild cognitive impairment (MCI), as well as to provide visualized evidence for neuronal specificity by using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging.