Therapeutic application of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation: a review

• Published in: Clinical Neurophysiology 2001-08, Vol.112 (8), p.1367-1377
• Main Authors: Wassermann, Eric M, Lisanby, Sarah H
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Clinical trials; Clinical Trials as Topic; Depression; Depressive Disorder - therapy; Disease Models, Animal; Diseases of the nervous system; Electric Stimulation Therapy; Electroconvulsive Therapy; Humans; Medical sciences; Motor cortex; Motor Cortex - physiology; Nerve Net - physiology; Parkinson Disease - therapy; Parkinson's disease; Prefrontal cortex; Prefrontal Cortex - physiology; Radiotherapy. Instrumental treatment. Physiotherapy. Reeducation. Rehabilitation, orthophony, crenotherapy. Diet therapy and various other treatments (general aspects); Rodentia; Treatment; Treatment Outcome
• ISSN: 1388-2457; 1872-8952
• DOI: 10.1016/S1388-2457(01)00585-5

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), a non-invasive means of electrically stimulating neurons in the human cerebral cortex, is able to modify neuronal activity locally and at distant sites when delivered in series or trains of pulses. Data from stimulation of the motor cortex suggest that the type of effect on the excitability of the cortical network depends on the frequency of stimulation. These data, as well as results from studies in rodents, have been generalized across brain areas and species to provide rationales for using repetitive TMS (rTMS) to treat various brain disorders, most notably depression. Research into clinical applications for TMS remains active and has the potential to provide useful data, but, to date, the results of blinded, sham-controlled trials do not provide clear evidence of beneficial effects that replace or even match the effectiveness of conventional treatments in any disorder. In this review, we discuss the clinical and scientific bases for using rTMS as treatment, and review the results of trials in psychiatric and neurological disorders to date.