Biological psychiatry
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Biological psychiatry · Oct 2003
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialIntensity-dependent regional cerebral blood flow during 1-Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in healthy volunteers studied with H215O positron emission tomography: II. Effects of prefrontal cortex rTMS.
The changes in brain activity produced by repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) remain unclear. We examined intensity-related changes in brain activity with positron emission tomography (PET) in normal volunteers during rTMS delivered to the left PFC. ⋯ The intensity-related inverse relationship between 1-Hz rTMS and prefrontal activity appears opposite to that seen with rTMS over the motor cortex in a companion study. Intensity-dependent increases in rCBF were seen in a number of distant cortical and subcortical areas with PFC rTMS, suggesting activation of left anterior cingulate, claustrum, and cerebellum. The regional differences in direction of rTMS effects and the greater activation of distant structures at higher intensities suggest the potential importance of higher-intensity prefrontal rTMS for therapeutic applications in neuropsychiatric patients.