Magnetic stimulation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex to improve episodic memory after severe traumatic brain injury: A case study
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1
CHUL Research Center, Neuroscience, Canada
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2
Université Laval, Dept Rehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine, Canada
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3
Centre de recherche Université Laval Robert-Giffard, Canada
The present case study aimed to test whether the repetitive magnetic stimulation of brain can help recover episodic memory after a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). FQ is a 22-yr woman (car accident 2 years ago, right ventricle dilatation) with important functional limitations such as total retrograde amnesia, visual agnosia and impairment of episodic memory retrieval (encoding largely spared). She was recruited in a 10-week protocol (1 session/week) in which excitatory intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS) was applied over the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC targeted using online brain navigator). Pre-and post-iTBS testing with 16-word retrieval experimental lists denoted significant acute improvements (per session) and a progressive increase (from 23% at stable baseline to 100% at sessions 9-10) that persisted almost 4 months post-protocol. Unchanged performance on visual agnosia supported the specificity of our protocol. Retrieval improvement was paralleled by a significant increase in the right cortical motor excitability with respect to the left. Behavioural enhancements and recovery of souvenirs from pre-TBI period were reported by family. Our study documents for the first time that TBS over DLPFC is a promising tool for the treatment of episodic memory deficits post-TBI. Enhancement of balanced brain activity may be a neurophysiological substrate.
Conference:
The 20th Annual Rotman Research Institute Conference, The frontal lobes, Toronto, Canada, 22 Mar - 26 Mar, 2010.
Presentation Type:
Poster Presentation
Topic:
Neuropsychology
Citation:
Beaulieu
L,
Bibeau
J,
Flamand
V,
Macoir
J and
Schneider
C
(2010). Magnetic stimulation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex to improve episodic memory after severe traumatic brain injury: A case study.
Conference Abstract:
The 20th Annual Rotman Research Institute Conference, The frontal lobes.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnins.2010.14.00171
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Received:
01 Jul 2010;
Published Online:
01 Jul 2010.
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Correspondence:
C. Schneider, Université Laval, Dept Rehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine, Québec City, Canada, Cyril.Schneider@rea.ulaval.ca