c-Fos expression in rat brain after repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation

We investigated neuronal response to repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and electroconvulsive shock (ECS) in terms of c-Fos expression. In rats at postnatal day 49, six rTMS sessions induced widespread nuclear c-Fos-like immunoreactivity in frontal cortex, lateral orbital cortex, striatum, lateral septal nucleus, piriform cortex, dentate gyrus, Ammon's horn, cingulate cortex, parietal cortex, thalamus, occipital cortex, and amygdala; this reactivity was greater than with two sessions of rTMS or sham rTMS. ECS produced even stronger c-Fos expression than six sessions of rTMS in all regions except thalamus (no difference) and striatum (stronger with rTMS). Thus, functional modification of neuroanatomic substrates as demonstrated by c-Fos expression may partially differ between rTMS and ECS.