TY - JOUR

T1 - Transcranial magnetic stimulation of primary motor cortex elicits an immediate transcranial evoked potential

AU - Beck, Mikkel Malling

AU - Christiansen, Lasse

AU - Madsen, Mads Alexander Just

AU - Jadidi, Armita Faghani

AU - Vinding, Mikkel Christoffer

AU - Thielscher, Axel

AU - Bergmann, Til Ole

AU - Siebner, Hartwig Roman

AU - Tomasevic, Leo

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Authors

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - Background: Transcranial evoked potentials (TEPs) measured via electroencephalography (EEG) are widely used to study the cortical responses to transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Immediate transcranial evoked potentials (i-TEPs) have been obscured by pulse and muscular artifacts. Thus, the TEP peaks that are commonly reported have latencies that are too long to be caused by direct excitation of cortical neurons. Methods: In 25 healthy individuals, we recorded i-TEPs evoked by a single biphasic TMS pulse targeting the primary motor hand area (M1HAND) or parietal or midline control sites. Sampling EEG at 50 kHz enabled us to reduce the duration of the TMS pulse artifact to a few milliseconds, while minor adjustments of the TMS coil tilt or position enabled us to avoid cranial muscular twitches during the experiment. Results: We observed an early positive EEG deflection starting after approx. 2 ms followed by a series of superimposed peaks with an inter-peak interval of ∼1.1–1.4 ms in multiple electrodes surrounding the stimulated sensorimotor region. This multi-peak i-TEP response was only evoked by TMS of the M1HAND region and was modified by changes in stimulation intensity and current direction. Discussion: Single-pulse TMS of the M1HAND evokes an immediate local multi-peak response at the cortical site of stimulation. Our results suggest that the observed i-TEP patterns are genuine cortical responses evoked by TMS caused by synchronized excitation of pyramidal neurons in the targeted precentral cortex. This notion needs to be corroborated in future studies, including further investigations into the potential contribution of instrumental or physiological artifacts.

AB - Background: Transcranial evoked potentials (TEPs) measured via electroencephalography (EEG) are widely used to study the cortical responses to transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Immediate transcranial evoked potentials (i-TEPs) have been obscured by pulse and muscular artifacts. Thus, the TEP peaks that are commonly reported have latencies that are too long to be caused by direct excitation of cortical neurons. Methods: In 25 healthy individuals, we recorded i-TEPs evoked by a single biphasic TMS pulse targeting the primary motor hand area (M1HAND) or parietal or midline control sites. Sampling EEG at 50 kHz enabled us to reduce the duration of the TMS pulse artifact to a few milliseconds, while minor adjustments of the TMS coil tilt or position enabled us to avoid cranial muscular twitches during the experiment. Results: We observed an early positive EEG deflection starting after approx. 2 ms followed by a series of superimposed peaks with an inter-peak interval of ∼1.1–1.4 ms in multiple electrodes surrounding the stimulated sensorimotor region. This multi-peak i-TEP response was only evoked by TMS of the M1HAND region and was modified by changes in stimulation intensity and current direction. Discussion: Single-pulse TMS of the M1HAND evokes an immediate local multi-peak response at the cortical site of stimulation. Our results suggest that the observed i-TEP patterns are genuine cortical responses evoked by TMS caused by synchronized excitation of pyramidal neurons in the targeted precentral cortex. This notion needs to be corroborated in future studies, including further investigations into the potential contribution of instrumental or physiological artifacts.

U2 - 10.1016/j.brs.2024.06.008

DO - 10.1016/j.brs.2024.06.008

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 38909748

AN - SCOPUS:85198021510

VL - 17

SP - 802

EP - 812

JO - Brain Stimulation

JF - Brain Stimulation

SN - 1935-861X

IS - 4

ER -