Enhanced episodic memory and LTP-like plasticity in subjective cognitive decline following 10-Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation.

The sample was small, and the paper states 24 participants were recruited while Table 1 and F(1,40) analyses suggest a larger analysed sample; the analysed N is not clearly stated. The study used a predominantly female cohort and single-site recruitment. This limits generalisability. No neuroimaging was done, so the link between motor-cortex plasticity and memory circuits is indirect. Anxiety, depression and stress were not assessed, although they can affect cognition. The primary AVLT-H measure did not show a significant overall group difference; the positive result was a time-by-group interaction for one subtest. The memory-plasticity correlation did not hold after adjusting for baseline memory, so the mechanism is preliminary. Randomisation allocation concealment and blinding procedures are not described beyond the sham procedure.

The supplied text names funders: National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Competitive Project of Jiangsu Province's Key Research and Development Program, and the Jiangsu Province Hospital clinical diagnosis and treatment of technological innovation 'Open bidding for selecting the best candidates' project. It does not state author conflicts of interest or whether funders designed or wrote the study.

Do not conclude that 10-Hz rTMS is an established cognitive treatment for subjective cognitive decline. The overall group difference on the primary memory measure was not significant, only one AVLT subtest showed a group-by-time interaction, and the plasticity association did not hold after baseline adjustment.