A core element of human working memory (WM) is the ability to perform mental operations on information that is stored in a flexible, limited capacity buffer. Given the profound importance of such WM manipulation (WM-M) abilities, there is a concerted effort aimed at developing approaches to improve them. Past research has identified neural substrates of WM-M centered in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), thereby providing a plausible and accessible target for noninvasive neuromodulatory stimulation that can be used to alter cortical excitability and potentially lead to facilitation of WM-M. In the current study, 5Hz online repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), applied over the left DLPFC, was used to test the hypothesis that active rTMS would lead to significant improvements in memory recall accuracy compared to sham stimulation, and that these effects would be most pronounced in the WM-M conditions with the highest cognitive demand (registered Clinical Trial: #NCT02767323). Participants performed a delayed response alphabetization task with three individually-titrated levels of difficulty during active and sham rTMS. Analyses revealed that active rTMS led to numerically greater accuracy relative to sham stimulation for the hardest condition; however, this effect did not survive Bonferroni correction over all task conditions. Despite the lack of robust, study-wise significant effects, when considered in isolation, the magnitude of behavioral improvement in the hardest condition was negatively correlated with parametric difficulty-related fMRI activity in the targeted brain region, suggesting that individuals with less activation benefit more from rTMS. The present findings therefore suggest evidence towards the hypothesis that active rTMS can enhance performance during difficult memory manipulation conditions; however, firm conclusions cannot be drawn given the lack of overall significant effects. These findings are discussed in the context of individualized targeting and other factors that might moderate rTMS effects.

A systematic study of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation to enhance working memory manipulation abilities