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Updated: Feb 9, 2026

In Vitro Generation of Heart Field-specific Cardiac Progenitor Cells
Published on: July 3, 2019
Target-Specificity and repeatability in neuro-cardiac-guided TMS for heart-brain coupling
Zi-Jian Feng1,2,3, Sandra Martin3,4, Ole Numssen5
1TMS center, The Third People's Hospital of Deqing (Deqing Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University), Deqing, 313200, China.
Heart rate changes after transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) can indicate effective treatment targets. Specific DLPFC locations and stimulation intensity non-linearly modulated heart-brain coupling (HBC).
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cardiology
- Psychiatry
Background:
- The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is a key target for transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in treating major depressive disorder.
- Therapeutic effects of DLPFC stimulation are linked to its connectivity with the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex.
- Both regions play a role in autonomic regulation, suggesting heart rate changes could indicate stimulation effectiveness.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of stimulation intensity and DLPFC target specificity on heart-brain coupling (HBC).
- To explore the potential of neuro-cardiac guided TMS for identifying optimal stimulation targets for depression treatment.
Main Methods:
- Utilized neuro-cardiac guided TMS in healthy participants.
- Employed generalized additive models to analyze nonlinear effects of stimulation intensity and location on HBC.
- Assessed intra-subject repeatability across sessions using intraclass correlation coefficients.
Main Results:
- Heart-brain coupling (HBC) was non-linearly modulated by stimulation intensity and DLPFC target location.
- Greater effects on HBC were observed at F3 lateral and F3 posterior targets compared to sham stimulation.
- A consistent decrease in heart rate (HR) was found specifically at the F3 lateral target with suprathreshold stimulation.
Conclusions:
- Heart-brain coupling (HBC) modulation by TMS is specific to the stimulation target and intensity.
- F3 lateral sites within the DLPFC showed particularly consistent effects on HBC.
- Findings support using HBC as a physiological marker to optimize individualized TMS protocols for depression.
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