Macro and micro structural preservation of grey matter integrity after 24 weeks of rTMS in Alzheimer’s disease patients: a pilot study

Abstract

Abstract Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is characterized by structural and functional dysfunction involving the Default Mode Network (DMN), for which the Precuneus (PC) is a key node. We proposed a randomized double-blind pilot study to determine neurobiological changes after 24 weeks of PC-rTMS in patients with mild-to-moderate AD. Sixteen patients were randomly assigned to SHAM or PC-rTMS, and received an intensive 2-weeks course with daily rTMS sessions, followed by a maintenance phase in which rTMS has been applied once a week. Before and after the treatment structural and functional MRIs were collected. Our results showed macro- and micro-structural preservation in PC-rTMS compared to SHAM-rTMS group after 24 weeks of treatment, correlated to an increase of functional connectivity (FC) within the PC in the PC-rTMS group. Even if preliminary, these results trigger the possibility of using PC-rTMS to arrest atrophy progression by manipulating distributed network connectivity patterns.

Keywords

• Alzheimer’s disease
• Transcranial magnetic stimulation
• Default mode network
• Precuneus
• Brain plasticity
• Microstructural