Modulating spontaneous brain activity using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation

Ysbrand D van der Werf, Ernesto J Sanz-Arigita, Sanne Menning, Odile A van den Heuvel
BMC Neurosci. 2010-11-10; 11(1):
DOI: 10.1186/1471-2202-11-145

PubMed
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1. BMC Neurosci. 2010 Nov 10;11:145. doi: 10.1186/1471-2202-11-145.

Modulating spontaneous brain activity using repetitive transcranial magnetic
stimulation.

van der Werf YD(1), Sanz-Arigita EJ, Menning S, van den Heuvel OA.

Author information:
(1)Sleep and Cognition, Netherlands Institute for Neurosciences, Royal
Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Meibergdreef 47, Amsterdam, The
Netherlands.

BACKGROUND: When no specific stimulus or task is presented, spontaneous
fluctuations in brain activity occur. Brain regions showing such coherent
fluctuations are thought to form organized networks known as ‘resting-state’
networks, a main representation of which is the default mode network. Spontaneous
brain activity shows abnormalities in several neurological and psychiatric
diseases that may reflect disturbances of ongoing thought processes. Information
about the degree to which such spontaneous brain activity can be modulated may
prove helpful in the development of treatment options. We investigated the effect
of offline low-frequency rTMS on spontaneous neural activity, as measured with
fMRI, using a sequential independent-component-analysis and regression approach
to investigate local changes within the default mode network.
RESULTS: We show that rTMS applied over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
results in distal changes of neural activity, relative to the site of
stimulation, and that these changes depend on the patterns of brain network
activity during ‘resting-state’.
CONCLUSIONS: Whereas the proximal changes may reflect the off-line effect of
direct stimulation of neural elements, the distal changes likely reflect
modulation of functional connectivity.

DOI: 10.1186/1471-2202-11-145
PMCID: PMC2993720
PMID: 21067612 [Indexed for MEDLINE]

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