Brain.  2012 Oct 5. [Epub ahead of print] Magnetic flimmers: ‘light in the electromagnetic darkness’ Martens JW, Koehler PJ, Vijselaar J. Source 1 Department of Humanities, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands. Abstract Transcranial magnetic stimulation has become an important field for both research in neuroscience and for therapy since Barker in 1985 showed that it was possible to stimulate the human motor cortex with an electromagnet. Today for instance, transcranial magnetic stimulation can be used to measure nerve conduction velocities and to create virtual lesions in the brain. The latter option creates the possibility to inactivate parts of the brain temporarily without permanent damage. In 2008, the American Food and Drugs Administration approved repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation as a therapy for major depression under strict conditions. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation has not yet been cleared for treatment of other diseases, including schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, obesity and Parkinson’s disease, but results seem promising. Transcranial magnetic stimulation, however, was not invented at the end of the 20th century. The discovery of electromagnetism, the enthusiasm for electricity and electrotherapy, and the interest in Beard’s concept of neurasthenia already resulted in the first electromagnetic treatments in the late 19th and early 20th century. In this article, we provide a history of electromagnetic stimulation circa 1900. From the data, we conclude that Mesmer’s late 18th century ideas of ‘animal magnetism’ and the 19th century absence of physiological proof had a negative influence on the acceptance of this therapy during the first decades of the 20th century. Electromagnetism disappeared from neurological textbooks in the early 20th century to recur at the end of that century. Schizophr Bull. 2005 Oct 27; [Epub ahead of print]

Therapeutic Effects of Individualized Alpha Frequency Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ({alpha}TMS) on the Negative Symptoms of Schizophrenia.

Jin Y, Potkin SG, Kemp AS, Huerta ST, Alva G, Thai TM, Carreon D, Bunney WE Jr.

Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine.

Previous research in clinical electroencephalography (EEG) has demonstrated that reduction of alpha frequency (8-13 Hz) EEG activity may have particular relevance to the negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) was utilized to investigate this relationship by assessing the therapeutic effects of stimulation set individually at each subject’s peak alpha frequency (alphaTMS). Twenty-seven subjects, with predominantly negative symptom schizophrenia, received 2 weeks of daily treatment with either alphaTMS, 3 Hz, 20 Hz, or sham stimulation bilaterally over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Individualized alphaTMS demonstrated a significantly larger (F 3,33 = 4.7, p = .007) therapeutic effect (29.6% reduction in negative symptoms) than the other 3 conditions (< 9%). Furthermore, these clinical improvements were found to be highly correlated (r = 0.86, p = .001) with increases (34%) in frontal alpha amplitude following alphaTMS. These results affirm that the resonant features of alpha frequency EEG play an important role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia and merit further investigation as a particularly efficacious frequency for rTMS treatments.

Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am. 2005 Jan;14(1):1-19, v.

Emerging brain-based interventions for children and adolescents: overview and clinical perspective.

Hirshberg LM, Chiu S, Frazier JA.

The NeuroDevelopment Center, 260 West Exchange Street, Suite 302, Providence, RI 02903, USA. lhirshberg@neruodevelopmentcenter.com

Electroencephalogram biofeedback (EBF), repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), and vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) are emerging interventions that attempt to directly impact brain function through neurostimulation and neurofeedback mechanisms. This article provides a brief overview of each of these techniques, summarizes the relevant research findings, and examines the implications of this research for practice standards based on the guidelines for recommending evidence based treatments as developed by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). EBF meets the “Clinical Guidelines” standard for ADHD, seizure disorders, anxiety, depression, and traumatic brain injury. VNS meets this same standard for treatment of refractory epilepsy and meets the lower “Options” standard for several other disorders. rTMS meets the standard for “Clinical Guidelines” for bipolar disorder, unipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. Several conditions are discussed regarding the use of evidence based thinking related to these emerging interventions and future directions.

J Neurosci. 2003 Nov 26;23(34):10867-72.

Priming stimulation enhances the depressant effect of low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation.

Iyer MB, Schleper N, Wassermann EM.

Brain Stimulation Unit, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-1430, USA.

Low-frequency (1 Hz) repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) can depress the excitability of the cortex locally and has been proposed for the treatment of disorders such as schizophrenia and epilepsy. Some have speculated that the depressant effect is related to long-term depression (LTD) of cortical synapses. Because in vitro LTD can be enhanced by pretreatment of synapses with higher-frequency stimulation, we hypothesized that if rTMS depression had mechanisms in common with LTD, higher-frequency priming would increase it also. In 25 healthy volunteers in two experiments, we measured motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) from TMS of the motor cortex to define the baseline response. Subthreshold rTMS (6 Hz, fixed rate or frequency modulated) was used to prime the motor cortex, followed by suprathreshold 1 Hz stimulation for 10 min at just above the MEP threshold. Over the next 60 min, we recorded MEPs every 10 sec and found significant increases in the amount of cortical depression with both types of 6 Hz priming rTMS relative to sham. The MEP depression from 6 Hz-primed 1 Hz rTMS showed no evidence of decay after 60 min. Pretreatment with 6 Hz primes both 1 Hz rTMS depression and LTD. Although not conclusive evidence, this strengthens the case for overlapping mechanisms and suggests a potent new technique for enhancing low-frequency rTMS depression that may have experimental and clinical applications.