Consensus: Motor cortex plasticity protocols

• Published in: Brain stimulation 2008-07, Vol.1 (3), p.164-182
• Main Authors: Ziemann, Ulf, MD, PhD, Paulus, Walter, MD, Nitsche, Michael A., MD, Pascual-Leone, Alvaro, MD, PhD, Byblow, Winston D., PhD, Berardelli, Alfredo, MD, Siebner, Hartwig R., MD, PhD, Classen, Joseph, MD, PhD, Cohen, Leonardo G., MD, Rothwell, John C., PhD
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Behavior - physiology; Consensus; Electric Stimulation - methods; Evoked Potentials, Motor - physiology; human motor cortex; Humans; Long-Term Potentiation - physiology; Motor Cortex - physiology; Neurology; Neuronal Plasticity - physiology; paired associative stimulation; Peripheral Nerves - physiology; theta burst stimulation; transcranial direct current stimulation; transcranial magnetic stimulation; Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation - methods
• ISSN: 1935-861X; 1876-4754
• DOI: 10.1016/j.brs.2008.06.006

Summary Noninvasive transcranial stimulation is being increasingly used by clinicians and neuroscientists to alter deliberately the status of the human brain. Important applications are the induction of virtual lesions (for example, transient dysfunction) to identify the importance of the stimulated brain network for a certain sensorimotor or cognitive task, and the induction of changes in neuronal excitability, synaptic plasticity or behavioral function outlasting the stimulation, for example, for therapeutic purposes. The aim of this article is to review critically the properties of the different currently used stimulation protocols, including a focus on their particular strengths and weaknesses, to facilitate their appropriate and conscientious application.