Effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on cognition through sleep slow-wave activity in older adults.
Michelle E Stepan, Ahmad Mayeli, Rachel Kaskie and 10 others
PMID 42387564WHAT IT FOUND
A single session of brain stimulation did not improve memory or executive function in older adults with subjective cognitive decline.
Reaction speed on one attention task improved slightly, but the change was smaller than what is considered clinically meaningful.
Key findings
01Overnight memory retention and executive function did not significantly improve after a single session of rTMS.
02Reaction time on the Stroop task improved in the active group, but the change was below the threshold for a reliable difference.
03Improvements in Stroop reaction time were correlated with increases in slow-wave activity, but this relationship did not survive correction for multiple comparisons.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The sample size was very small (n=20), limiting the power to detect effects. The study used a single session of rTMS, whereas clinical protocols often use multiple sessions. Investigators were not blind to the treatment condition, and participants could distinguish between active and sham stimulation. The observed improvement in reaction time was not large enough to be considered clinically meaningful.
Declared interests
The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, and various University of Pittsburgh institutes. No conflicts of interest were declared by the authors.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the significant p-value for Stroop reaction time as evidence of a clinically useful benefit. The improvement was smaller than the minimal detectable change, meaning it could easily be due to noise or practice effects rather than the treatment.