Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 1999;27(3-5):241-84.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation--a new tool for functional imaging of the brain

Affiliations
  • PMID: 10864281
Review

Transcranial magnetic stimulation--a new tool for functional imaging of the brain

R J Ilmoniemi et al. Crit Rev Biomed Eng. 1999.

Abstract

Recent progress in the theory and technology of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is leading to novel approaches in brain mapping. TMS becomes a powerful functional brain mapping tool when other imaging methods are used to record TMS-evoked activity or when peripheral effects are observed as a function of stimulus location. TMS-evoked activity currently can be recorded by EEG, PET, and fMRI. In addition to providing indices of cortical excitability, these methods allow one to study brain connectivity directly, without the need for behavioral activations. When the coordinate systems in the different imaging modalities are combined, anatomical structures seen in MRI and activation sites determined by PET, fMRI, or MEG/EEG can be used for the selection of target areas in the brain. PET and fMRI can be used to map the spatial distribution of TMS-evoked activity. On the other hand, the combination of TMS and high-resolution EEG may often be the method of choice for basic neuroscience and for clinical diagnosis, for example, in the assessment of brain connectivity in patients suffering from neurodegenerative diseases or head injuries.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

Cited by

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources