Abstract
About this talk
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) now has widespread clinical utility far outpacing an understanding of how it modulates the brain – limiting optimization. Behavioral and network effects are subserved by cellular changes, most prominently at the synapse. ‘Excitatory’ TMS is purported to work through a form of synaptic plasticity called long-term potentiation (LTP), a process which depends on NMDA receptors. TMS effects on the human motor system can be blocked by NMDA receptor antagonists and enhanced by NMDA receptor agonists – a pharmacologic augmentation approach successfully applied in a clinical trial for depression. In this presentation, I’ll highlight the preclinical and human physiology data pointing to mechanisms of action for the most commonly used clinical TMS protocols: 10-Hz repetitive TMS and intermittent theta burst stimulation.
Audience Take Away Notes:
- Understand how TMS can be used for brain disorders
- Understand the purported mechanisms of action, including long-term potentiation
- Appreciate how TMS could be optimized by leveraging purported mechanisms
Speaker
About the speaker
