Paper details
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) methodologies have been shown to be capable of neuromodulating motor system excitability and promoting improvement in motor functions [1]. TMS is a technique able to elicit electric currents in the cerebral cortex non-invasively through the generation of short high intensity magnetic fields, which trespasses the cranium depolarizing certain population of nervous cells from small cortical regions. A TMS configuration strategy to induce neuronal plasticity is Paired Associative Stimulation (PAS); the combination of a single TMS pulse with another stimulus or event that induce an activation in the same nervous tract.

Recently, it has been shown that these techniques applied to the motor cortex can promote improvement in spatial memory capacities [2; 3].
In this line, our group has developed a virtual environment adapted to the evaluation of these memory skills, also allowing the application of PAS-type therapies. In this contribution we present a virtual maze in which the user will remember the right way to get out. The task consists of an initial phase of PAS training, in which the subject is shown the path to follow and the TMS pulse is paired with the bifurcation moment (key elements that the subject will have to remember). In the maze performance phase, the users have to solve the labyrinth on their own. We will evaluate the number of training trials that the subjects carried out in comparison with a control group that does not receive stimulation to verify the efficacy of our therapy.
References:
1 San Agustín, A., & Pons, J. L. Paired associative stimulation protocols with transcranial magnetic stimulation for motor cortex potentiation. In School And Symposium On Advanced Neurorehabilitation (SSNR2018) (p. 44).2 Hu, Y., Guo, T. C., Zhang, X. Y., Tian, J., & Lu, Y. S. (2019). Paired associative stimulation improves synaptic plasticity and functional outcomes after cerebral ischemia. Neural regeneration research, 14 (11), 1968.
3 San Agustín, A., & Pons Rovira, J. L. (2019). Paired Associative Stimulation For Memory Facilitation. School And Symposium On Advanced Neurorehabilitation.