Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 16, 2026
Continuous Theta Burst Stimulation of the Posterior Medial Frontal Cortex to Experimentally Reduce Ideological Threat Responses
Published on: September 28, 2018
Continuous theta burst stimulation over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex decreases medium load working memory
Nathalie Schicktanz1, Matthias Fastenrath2, Annette Milnik3
1University of Basel, Department of Psychology, Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, Basel, Switzerland; University of Basel, Psychiatric University Clinics, Basel, Switzerland.
Abstract:
The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) plays a key role in working memory. Evidence indicates that transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) over the DLPFC can interfere with working memory performance. Here we investigated for how long continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS) over the DLPFC decreases working memory performance and whether the effect of cTBS on performance depends on working memory load. Forty healthy young subjects received either cTBS over the left DLPFC or sham stimulation before performing a 2-, and 3-back working memory letter task. An additional 0-back condition served as a non-memory-related control, measuring general attention. cTBS over the left DLPFC significantly impaired 2-back working memory performance for about 15 min, whereas 3-back and 0-back performances were not significantly affected. Our results indicate that the effect of left DLPFC cTBS on working memory performance lasts for roughly 15 min and depends on working memory load.
