Based upon current knowledge of the brain and the results rTMS, the researchers hypothesized that they might improve episodic memory, and in the process, produce targets for future memory-related therapies.
The scientists initially evaluated previous information from 40 university student who had actually been asked to remember lists of words. Half of the students got sluggish rTMS over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex while trying to memorize the words, and the other half received rTMS over a control region of the brain. In a new experiment, scientists gathered data from 24 college trainees who each performed a similar memory job under both rTMS conditions.
Analysis of both datasets exposed that memory performance was better for words that were memorized while the left prefrontal cortex was being promoted. Analyzing the EEG data that was taped during the experiments, the researchers found that the sluggish rTMS used to the prefrontal area led to lowered power of low-frequency (beta) waves in the parietal region of the brain, which is understood to be included in attention and understanding.
Due to the fact that sluggish rTMS inhibits brain activity, and the prefrontal cortex prevents the posterior areas of the brain, van der Plas and co-authors think that the sluggish rTMS disinhibited the activity of the parietal region, leading to improved encoding of the words being memorized, and thus improved memory.
van der Plas notes, “Our electrophysiological outcomes suggest that frontal stimulation affects a wider network and enhances memory development by preventing parietal areas. These are intricate but intriguing impacts that require further experiments to much better understand their neural basis.”
Hanslmayr includes, “We were quite stunned when we saw these results in the very first study, which was designed to examine a various concern. Therefore, we required to replicate the results in a 2nd experiment to see whether this is real, and indeed it seems to be.”
Reference: 28 September 2021, PLoS Biology.DOI: 10.1371/ journal.pbio.3001363.
Repressive brain stimulation enables better memorization by minimizing the power of beta-waves in the brain.
Memories of past occasions and experiences are what specify us as who we are, and yet the capability to form these episodic memories declines with age, particular dementias, and brain injury. A study publishing in the open gain access to journal PLOS Biology on September 28th by Mircea van der Plas and Simon Hanslmayr from the University of Glasgow and colleagues, shows that low frequency repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation– or rTMS– delivered over the left prefrontal cortex of the brain can improve memory efficiency by minimizing the power of low frequency brain waves as memories form.