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Imaging brain activation induced by long trains of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation
H R Siebner1, F Willoch, M Peller
1Department of Neurology, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany.
Abstract:
Using positron emission tomography (PET), we measured the relative changes in regional cerebral metabolic rate of glucose (rCMRglc) during 2 Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of the left sensorimotor cortex (SM1) and during imitation of rTMS-induced arm movements. Such stimulation caused an rCMRglc increase of about 8% within the SM1. The relative rCMRglc increase within SM1 was significantly greater in magnitude and larger in area during voluntary imitation of rTMS-induced arm movements. Moreover, the rostral part of the SMA was significantly more activated by voluntary movements than during rTMS. Combining rTMS and PET has the potential to visualize rTMS-related net brain activation, and may open up new possibilities for functional network analysis by comparing willed brain activation with electromagnetic brain activation.