Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Applications in Alzheimer-s Disease: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Alzheimer-s disease (AD), is characterized by its progressive feature and loss of cognitive functions, is common among dementia types. There is no curative treatment of the disease today. In recent years, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) techniques together with drug therapy have been explored by experts considering that they will produce beneficial results. Repetetive TMS (rTMS) can modulate cortical excitability and prevent long-term neuroplastic changes. The aim of this study is an updated and comprehensive systematic review of studies using TMS/rTMS in AD patients. Our study was designed as a systematic review prepared according to the PRISMA guideline. In this study, English and Turkish AD-TMS articles that entered the literature published between 2002 and 2017 were included. Randomized and non-randomized controlled clinical studies on humans evaluating the effectiveness of rTMS applications at different concentrations, durations and different regions in AD have been reviewed. The databases we used were Pubmed (R), MEDLINE (R), Webofscience (R), EMBASE (R), Turkiye Atif Dizini (R). Keywords were -TMS, rTMS, Alzheimers Disease- used in our search, 116 artticles complied with the determined protocol were identified and 14 were included in our study. The studies presented in this review, show the therapeutic potential of rTMS in AD patients. Benefits of rTMS were to communicate with patients and especially caregivers in their daily activities, thereby improving their QoL. The possibility of using TMS to increase neuroplasticity is promising not only to improve our understanding of brain plasticity mechanisms, but also to design new neurorehabilitation strategies.