Brain Mapping and Plasticity Laboratory, Federal University of Piauí, Av. São Sebastião no. 2819, Nossa Sra. de Fátima, Parnaíba, PI, 64202-020, Brazil.
The Northeast Biotechnology Network (RENORBIO), Federal University of Piauí, Teresina, Brazil.
Neurol Sci. 2018 Mar;39(3):527-532. doi: 10.1007/s10072-017-3243-8. Epub 2018 Jan 12.
Spatial working memory has been extensively investigated with different tasks, treatments, and analysis tools. Several studies suggest that low frequency of the repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) applied to the parietal cortex may influence spatial working memory (SWM). However, it is not yet known if after low-frequency rTMS applied to the superior parietal cortex, according to Pz electroencephalography (EEG) electrode, would change the orientation interpretation about the vertical and horizontal axes coordinates in an SWM task. The current study aims at filling this gap and obtains a better understanding of the low-frequency rTMS effect in SWM. In this crossover study, we select 20 healthy subjects in two conditions (control and 1-Hz rTMS). The subjects performed an SWM task with two random coordinates. Our results presented that low-frequency rTMS applied over the superior parietal cortex may influence the SWM to lead to a larger distance of axes interception point (p < 0.05). We conclude that low-frequency rTMS over the superior parietal cortex (SPC) changes the SWM performance, and it has more predominance in horizontal axis.
空间工作记忆已通过不同的任务、处理方法和分析工具进行了广泛的研究。几项研究表明，应用于顶叶皮层的低频重复经颅磁刺激（rTMS）可能会影响空间工作记忆（SWM）。然而，目前尚不清楚在根据 Pz 脑电图（EEG）电极将低频 rTMS 应用于顶叶上后，是否会改变 SWM 任务中关于垂直和水平轴坐标的方向解释。本研究旨在填补这一空白，并更好地理解低频 rTMS 对 SWM 的影响。在这项交叉研究中，我们选择了 20 名健康受试者，分为两组（对照组和 1Hz rTMS 组）。受试者在两个随机坐标下执行 SWM 任务。我们的结果表明，应用于顶叶皮层的低频 rTMS 可能会影响 SWM，导致轴交点的距离更大（p < 0.05）。我们得出结论，应用于顶叶皮层（SPC）的低频 rTMS 改变了 SWM 表现，并且在水平轴上具有更大的优势。
