Abstract
Background
The effectiveness of non-invasive neuromodulation to improve social cognition (SC) in neurological disorders remains unclear. However, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) shows promise for treating cognitive abnormalities by promoting neuroplasticity.
Objective
In this randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled study, we investigated the effects of high-frequency rTMS on the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and right temporal parietal junction (rTPJ) in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to enhance SC abilities and other cognitive and functional abilities related to the stimulated network, and their maintenance effects post-treatment.
Methods
Twenty-four MCI patients were assigned to 2 groups: a Real-Real group (RR-Gr) that received 4 weeks of rTMS, and a Sham-Real group (SR-Gr) that received 2 weeks of sham stimulation followed by 2 weeks of real rTMS. All subjects underwent cognitive/functional assessments at baseline, week 2, and week 4 of the treatment, and 8 weeks post-intervention (12 weeks).
Results
After 2 weeks of treatment, the RR-Gr improved in empathy performance (P < .001), emotion-recognition (P < .001), social-behavior (SB) (P = .04), and executive function (P = .014). Following 4 weeks of rTMS, emotion-recognition improved further, and the benefits persisted at follow-up observation (all Ps < .001). In RR-Gr, patients with higher education exhibited more significant improvements in SB abilities (P = .032). Both groups also improved attention, mobility, and quality of life over time (P range :<.001-.02).
Conclusions
Excitatory rTMS treatment targeting 2 key social brain regions (mPFC and rTPJ) shows promise as a sustained intervention to improve SC and associated cognitive functions in the MCI population.
Trial registration
ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT04490616
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
