Abstract
Background: Intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) is a form of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation that has shown to be effective in treatment-resistant depression. Through studying the effect of iTBS on healthy subjects, we wished to attain a greater understanding of its impact on the brain. Our objective was to assess whether 10 iTBS sessions altered the neural processing of emotional stimuli, mood and brain anatomy in healthy subjects. Methods: In this double-blind randomized sham-controlled study, 30 subjects received either active iTBS treatment (10 sessions, two sessions a day) or sham treatment over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Assessments of mood, structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and functional MRI (fMRI) were performed before and after iTBS sessions. During the fMRI, three different categories of stimuli were presented: positive, negative and neutral photographs. Results: This study showed that, during the presentation of negative stimuli (compared with neutral stimuli), 10 sessions of iTBS increased activity in the left anterior insula. However, iTBS did not induce any change in mood, regional gray matter volume or cortical thickness. Conclusions: iTBS modifies healthy subjects’ brain activity in a key region that processes emotional stimuli. (AFSSAPS: ID-RCB 2010A01032-37).
Highlights
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation is a noninvasive brain stimulation technique allowing various applications, such as disease diagnosis, investigation of cortical excitability changes, mapping of cortical function and therapeutics [1]
Assuming that the therapeutic mechanism of Intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) shares the same mechanism in healthy subjects, we suggest that repeated iTBS sessions over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) over several days could modulate brain activity during emotion processing
We showed that, after receiving active iTBS, activity increased in the left anterior insula in healthy volunteers
Summary
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a noninvasive brain stimulation technique allowing various applications, such as disease diagnosis, investigation of cortical excitability changes, mapping of cortical function and therapeutics [1]. This technique uses electromagnetic pulses to induce a brief electrical current in the underlying cortical tissue. Rapid variation of the magnetic field and the induced electrical current generate an action potential which propagates along the neuronal synaptic chain Repetitive application of this stimulation affects cortical activity (inhibition or excitation), generating modulation effects within the target region and its associated network [2]. Conclusions: iTBS modifies healthy subjects’ brain activity in a key region that processes emotional stimuli. (AFSSAPS: ID-RCB 2010A01032-37)
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