Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38970141›Full record

Trial reportAlzheimer's research & therapy2024

Macro and micro structural preservation of grey matter integrity after 24 weeks of rTMS in Alzheimer's disease patients: a pilot study.

Lucia Mencarelli, Mario Torso, Ilaria Borghi, Martina Assogna, Valentina Pezzopane, Sonia Bonnì, Francesco Di Lorenzo, Emiliano Santarnecchi, Federico Giove, Alessandro Martorana and 4 more

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Alzheimer's research & therapy, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
13citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Gamma sensory stimulation in mild Alzheimer's dementia: An open-label extension study.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025
    Trial
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Clinical utility and prospective of TMS-EEG: Updated review from an international expert group.Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2026
    Review
  6. A meta-analysis of the effect of non-invasive neuromodulation techniques on improving cognitive function in patients with Alzheimer's disease.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2026
    Review
  7. Review
  8. Review
  9. Predicting progression from MCI to dementia using cortical disarray measurement from diffusion MRI.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025
    Article
  10. Article
  11. Review
  12. Article
  13. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Lucia Mencarelli *Department of Behavioral and Clinical Neurology, Santa Lucia Foundation IRCCS, Via Ardeatina, 306, Rome, 00179, Italy.
Mario Torso *Oxford Brain Diagnostics Ltd, New Rd, Oxford, OX1 1BY, UK.
Ilaria BorghiDepartment of Behavioral and Clinical Neurology, Santa Lucia Foundation IRCCS, Via Ardeatina, 306, Rome, 00179, Italy.
Martina AssognaDepartment of Behavioral and Clinical Neurology, Santa Lucia Foundation IRCCS, Via Ardeatina, 306, Rome, 00179, Italy.
Valentina PezzopaneDepartment of Behavioral and Clinical Neurology, Santa Lucia Foundation IRCCS, Via Ardeatina, 306, Rome, 00179, Italy.
Sonia BonnìDepartment of Behavioral and Clinical Neurology, Santa Lucia Foundation IRCCS, Via Ardeatina, 306, Rome, 00179, Italy.
Francesco Di LorenzoDepartment of Behavioral and Clinical Neurology, Santa Lucia Foundation IRCCS, Via Ardeatina, 306, Rome, 00179, Italy.
Emiliano SantarnecchiPrecision Neuroscience and Neuromodulation Program & Network Control Laboratory, Gordon Center for Medical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital & Harvard Medical School, 125 Nashua Street, Boston, MA, 02114- 1107, USA.
Federico GioveCognitive and Motor Rehabilitation and Neuroimaging Unit, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Via Ardeatina 306, Rome, 00179, Italy.
Alessandro MartoranaDepartment of Systems Medicine, Memory Clinic, University of Tor Vergata, Via Montpellier 1, Rome, 00133, Italy.
Marco BozzaliNeuroscience Department "Rita Levi Montalcini", University of Turin, Via Cherasco, 15, Turin, 10126, Italy.
Gerard R RidgwayOxford Brain Diagnostics Ltd, New Rd, Oxford, OX1 1BY, UK.
Steven A ChanceOxford Brain Diagnostics Ltd, New Rd, Oxford, OX1 1BY, UK.
Giacomo KochDepartment of Behavioral and Clinical Neurology, Santa Lucia Foundation IRCCS, Via Ardeatina, 306, Rome, 00179, Italy. g.koch@hsantalucia.it.

Funding

BrightFocus Foundation A2019523SMinistero della Salute Ricerca corrente 2018
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is characterized by structural and functional dysfunction involving the Default Mode Network (DMN), for which the Precuneus (PC) is a key node. We proposed a randomized double-blind pilot study to determine neurobiological changes after 24 weeks of PC-rTMS in patients with mild-to-moderate AD. Sixteen patients were randomly assigned to SHAM or PC-rTMS, and received an intensive 2-weeks course with daily rTMS sessions, followed by a maintenance phase in which rTMS has been applied once a week. Before and after the treatment structural and functional MRIs were collected. Our results showed macro- and micro-structural preservation in PC-rTMS compared to SHAM-rTMS group after 24 weeks of treatment, correlated to an increase of functional connectivity (FC) within the PC in the PC-rTMS group. Even if preliminary, these results trigger the possibility of using PC-rTMS to arrest atrophy progression by manipulating distributed network connectivity patterns.

Indexed as

Alzheimer DiseaseGray MatterMagnetic Resonance ImagingTranscranial Magnetic StimulationAgedDouble-Blind MethodFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedParietal LobePilot ProjectsTreatment OutcomeAlzheimer’s diseaseBrain plasticityCortexDefault mode networkMicrostructuralPrecuneusTranscranial magnetic stimulation

Identifiers

PMID38970141
PMCPMC11225141

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.