Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation during Gait: A Review of Methodological and Technological Challenges

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is widely used for therapeutic and research purposes such as cognitive studies, treatment of psychiatric disorders, and Parkinson's disease. In research, TMS is perhaps the only technique that can establish a functional connection between brain regions and task performance. In gait research, often TMS is used to identify the extent to which leg motor cortex is involved in different phases on gait cycle. However, using TMS in gait can be challenging for several technical reasons and physiological variations. The objective of this narrative review is to summarize literature in the field of TMS and gait research and present comprehensive challenges. A comprehensive literature search was conducted in PubMed and Google Scholar to identify all relevant literature on TMS and gait. Several critical challenges could potentially impact the findings. For instance, the use of different protocols to obtain motor threshold. This review presents some of the critical challenges in applying TMS during gait. It is important to be aware of these variations and utilize strategies to mitigate some challenges.