B - 56 Effects of rTMS Treatment on Executive Function Measured by the CANTAB Spatial Working Memory Subtest.

OBJECTIVE: Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) presents with deficits in executive function (Krawczyk et al., 2019). Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), a non-invasive neuromodulation treatment, may help improve cognitive outcomes. However, it remains unclear in which cognitive domains (Clark & Parasuraman, 2014; Donaldson et al., 2015). This study investigates executive function using the Spatial Working Memory subtest of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery, a computerized card-matching task in which participants match up to 12 cards to matched pairs based on memory (CDC).

METHODS: Veterans and civilians were enrolled (n = 31; mild and moderate TBI; mean age = 62.25) and placed into active or sham groups. Participants received neuropsychological assessment at baseline, after 20 rTMS treatments, and at six-month follow-up. This study compared means between the active and sham groups (n = 16 & 15, respectively).

RESULTS: Participants in the active group had fewer errors than the sham group on the 12-box trial (M = 24.19, SD = 11.20; M = 34.27, SD = 18.16; respectively), 8-box trial (M = 6.75, SD = 5.447; M = 8.27, SD = 6.11; respectively), 6-box trial (M = 2.06, SD = 3.00; M = 3.60, SD = 4.03; respectively) and across the 4, 6 and 8-box trials (M = 9.75, SD = 8.57; M = 12.47, SD = 10.04; respectively). Effect sizes were small to large (d = 0.28-0.67).

CONCLUSION: The results suggest that rTMS treatment potentially enhances executive functioning in older adults with TBI. Further research on the impacts of rTMS in executive function domains is warranted.