Low-Frequency TMS Results in Condition-Related Dynamic Activation Changes of Stimulated and Contralateral Inferior...

Non-invasive brain stimulation is a promising approach to study the causal relationship between brain function and behavior. However, it is difficult to interpret behavioral null results as dynamic brain network changes have the potential to prevent stimulation from affecting behavior, ultimately compensating for the stimulation. The present study investigated local and remote changes in brain activity via functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) after offline disruption of the inferior parietal lobule (IPL) or the vertex in human participants via 1 Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). Since the IPL acts as a multimodal hub of several networks, we implemented two experimental conditions in order to robustly engage task-positive networks, such as the fronto-parietal control network (on-task condition) and the default mode network (off-task condition). The condition-dependent neural after-effects following rTMS applied to the IPL were dynamic in affecting post-rTMS BOLD activity depending on the exact time-window. More specifically, we found that 1 Hz rTMS applied to the right IPL led to a delayed activity increase in both, the stimulated and the contralateral IPL, as well as in other brain regions of a task-positive network. This was markedly more pronounced in the on-task condition suggesting a condition-related delayed upregulation. Thus together, our results revealed a dynamic compensatory reorganization including upregulation and intra-network compensation which may explain mixed findings after low-frequency offline TMS.