Enhancing Cognition with Theta Burst Stimulation

Theta burst stimulation (TBS) protocols are believed to produce more reliable, longer-lasting effects on cortical dynamics and on behavior than other standard forms of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Most TBS experiments use stimulation to a targeted region to impair cognitive function, allowing for causal inferences between anatomical locations and cognitive processes to be drawn. However, this review covers a small but rapidly growing literature suggesting TBS can also benefit cognitive performance. These pro-cognitive effects have been observed in both healthy individuals and in clinical populations. While these data are promising, the available evidence also suggests the effects of TBS may be dose, state, and site specific. Overall, this line of research is of high interest for understanding how the brain mediates cognitive functions, investigating the potential plasticity of these neural mechanisms, and for developing treatments for the cognitive impairments found in many neuropsychiatric and neurological disorders.