Memory Enhancement in a Patient with Severe Traumatic Brain Injury by Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation: A Case Report

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) causes temporary and/or permanent dysfunction in the brain. Prefrontal cortex, particularly the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) plays a crucial role during working memory tasks. We herein evaluate the effect of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on memory enhancement in a rare case of moderate to severe TBI with significant volume loss in her left frontal, prefrontal and temporal cortex. A 14-year-old girl with a past history of TBI was referred to our center by a neurologist. Because her brain MRI showed her left hemisphere was significantly smaller than her right hemisphere, we stimulated her right DLPFC with rTMS. She received 20 sessions of 50 trials intermittent theta burst stimulation over the right DLPFC, separated by inter-stimulus intervals of 15 seconds. The patient s memory quotients were measured before and after rTMS using the validated Persian version of the Wechsler’s memory test. The results showed that the patient s memory quotient score was improved from 62 before rTMS to 75 after rTMS (a 13-point improvement). Our findings showed that rTMS on the right DLPFC can effectively enhance memory in patients with volume loss in the left frontal, prefrontal, and temporal cortex following TBI.

کلیدواژه ها:

Working memory ، Traumatic brain injury ، Transcranial magnetic stimulation