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Emotional processing and rTMS: does inhibitory theta burst stimulation affect the human startle reflex?
Nadja Vennewald1,2, Bernward Winter3, Karina Limburg4
1School of Health, Muenster University of Applied Sciences, Leonardo Campus 8, 48149, Muenster, Germany. nadja.vennewald@web.de.
Summary
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) did not alter amygdala responsiveness to emotional stimuli in healthy adults. However, inhibitory rTMS showed a trend towards accelerated startle habituation, suggesting potential effects on basic learning mechanisms.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) modulates cortical activity and shows antidepressant effects.
- rTMS is being explored for anxiety disorders, targeting emotion regulation circuits involving the prefrontal cortex and amygdala.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effects of inhibitory rTMS applied to the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex on amygdala responsiveness during a fear-relevant task.
- To examine potential cortico-limbic interactions in emotion regulation.
Main Methods:
- Sham-controlled, randomized inhibitory rTMS (continuous theta burst stimulation, TBS) applied to 102 healthy subjects over the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.
- Assessment of emotion-potentiated startle response to unpleasant, neutral, and pleasant International Affective Picture System stimuli.
- Inclusion of subjective anxiety ratings (anxiety sensitivity, trait, and state anxiety) and gender as factors.
Main Results:
- Picture category significantly affected startle magnitude, with higher responses to unpleasant and lower to pleasant pictures, irrespective of TBS group.
- No significant modulatory effects of TBS on amygdala responsiveness or startle potentiation were observed.
- A trend-level finding indicated accelerated startle habituation with verum TBS compared to sham.
Conclusions:
- Prefrontal inhibitory rTMS did not significantly modulate amygdala responsiveness to emotional stimuli in healthy individuals.
- Preliminary evidence suggests inhibitory rTMS may influence basic learning mechanisms, specifically startle habituation.
- Further research is needed to explore the subtle effects of rTMS on cortico-limbic pathways and learning.
