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Prefrontal cortex rTMS enhances action naming in progressive non-fluent aphasia
Cotelli M, Manenti R, Alberici A, Brambilla M, Cosseddu M, Zanetti O, Miozzo A, Padovani A et al.. European journal of neurology, 2012-03-21
Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models
Background and purpose Progressive non-fluent aphasia (PNFA) is a neurodegenerative disorder that is characterized by non-fluent speech with naming impairment and grammatical errors. It has been recently demonstrated that repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) improves action naming in healthy subjects and in subjects with Alzheimer's disease. Purpose To investigate whether the modulation of DLPFC circuits by rTMS modifies naming performance in patients with PNFA. Methods Ten patients with a diagnosis of PNFA were enrolled. High-frequency rTMS was applied to the left and right DLPFC and the sham (i.e. placebo) condition during object and action naming. A subgroup of patients with semantic dementia was enrolled as a comparison group. Results A repeated-measure anova with stimulus site (sham, left and right rTMS) showed significant effects. Action-naming performances during stimulation of both the left and right DLPFC were better than during placebo stimulation. No facilitating effect of rTMS to the DLPFC on object naming was observed. In patients with a diagnosis of semantic dementia, no effect of stimulation was reported. Conclusions Our study demonstrated that rTMS improved action naming in subjects with PNFA, possibly due to the modulation of DLPFC pathways and a facilitation effect on lexical retrieval processes. Future studies on the potential of a rehabilitative protocol using rTMS applied to the DLPFC in this orphan disorder are required.
Key findings
- It has been recently demonstrated that repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) improves action naming in healthy subjects and in subjects with Alzheimer's disease.
- Results A repeated-measure anova with stimulus site (sham, left and right rTMS) showed significant effects.
- Conclusions Our study demonstrated that rTMS improved action naming in subjects with PNFA, possibly due to the modulation of DLPFC pathways and a facilitation effect on lexical retrieval processes.
Why it matters
In 10 patients with progressive non-fluent aphasia, high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation to the left and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex improved action naming compared with sham stimulation, with no effect on object naming and no effect in patients with semantic dementia. This is a small study of a symptom-focused stimulation and does not test treating, curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 42/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (European journal of neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | European Journal of Neurology: journal h-index 181 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2012 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (pubmed indexes it as a clinical or observational study) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 4 / 7 | Cited 69 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 2 / 5 | 4.3 citations a year over 16 year(s) since 2012 |
| Impact for its field and year | 2 / 6 | Cited 2.5× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 3 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 18 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Barbara Borroni: h-index 88 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 0 / 3 | University of Brescia: institution h-index 552 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 2 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 22435956) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 42 / 100 | — |
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Read the original
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Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Cotelli, M., Manenti, R., Alberici, A., Brambilla, M., Cosseddu, M., Zanetti, O., et al. (2012). Prefrontal cortex rTMS enhances action naming in progressive non-fluent aphasia. European journal of neurology. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-1331.2012.03699.x
Vancouver
Cotelli M, Manenti R, Alberici A, Brambilla M, Cosseddu M, Zanetti O, et al. Prefrontal cortex rTMS enhances action naming in progressive non-fluent aphasia. European journal of neurology. 2012. doi:10.1111/j.1468-1331.2012.03699.x. PMID: 22435956.
BibTeX
@article{cotelli2012-22435956,
author = {Cotelli, M. and Manenti, R. and Alberici, A. and Brambilla, M. and Cosseddu, M. and Zanetti, O. and Miozzo, A. and Padovani, A. and others},
title = {{Prefrontal cortex rTMS enhances action naming in progressive non-fluent aphasia}},
journal = {European journal of neurology},
year = {2012},
doi = {10.1111/j.1468-1331.2012.03699.x},
pmid = {22435956},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-1331.2012.03699.x}
}
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