Monitoring cortical excitability during repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in children with ADHD: a single-blind, sham-controlled TMS-EEG study

  • Background: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) allows non-invasive stimulation of the human brain. However, no suitable marker has yet been established to monitor the immediate rTMS effects on cortical areas in children. Objective: TMS-evoked EEG potentials (TEPs) could present a well-suited marker for real-time monitoring. Monitoring is particularly important in children where only few data about rTMS effects and safety are currently available. Methods: In a single-blind sham-controlled study, twenty-five school-aged children with ADHD received subthreshold 1 Hz-rTMS to the primary motor cortex. The TMS-evoked N100 was measured by 64-channel-EEG pre, during and post rTMS, and compared to sham stimulation as an intraindividual control condition. Results: TMS-evoked N100 amplitude decreased during 1 Hz-rTMS and, at the group level, reached a stable plateau after approximately 500 pulses. N100 amplitude to supra-threshold single pulses post rTMS confirmed the amplitude reduction in comparison to the pre-rTMS level while sham stimulation had no influence. EEG source analysis indicated that the TMS-evoked N100 change reflected rTMS effects in the stimulated motor cortex. Amplitude changes in TMS-evoked N100 and MEPs (pre versus post 1 Hz-rTMS) correlated significantly, but this correlation was also found for pre versus post sham stimulation. Conclusion: The TMS-evoked N100 represents a promising candidate marker to monitor rTMS effects on cortical excitability in children with ADHD. TMS-evoked N100 can be employed to monitor real-time effects of TMS for subthreshold intensities. Though TMS-evoked N100 was a more sensitive parameter for rTMS-specific changes than MEPs in our sample, further studies are necessary to demonstrate whether clinical rTMS effects can be predicted from rTMS-induced changes in TMS-evoked N100 amplitude and to clarify the relationship between rTMS-induced changes in TMS-evoked N100 and MEP amplitudes. The TMS-evoked N100 amplitude reduction after 1 Hz-rTMS could either reflect a globally decreased cortical response to the TMS pulse or a specific decrease in inhibition.

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Metadaten
Author:Christian Helfrich, Simone S. Pierau, Christine M. FreitagORCiDGND, Jochen RoeperORCiD, Ulf ZiemannORCiDGND, Stephan Bender
URN:urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-276608
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0050073
ISSN:1932-6203
Pubmed Id:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23185537
Parent Title (German):Plos one
Publisher:PLoS
Place of publication:Lawrence, Kan.
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Date of Publication (online):2012/11/26
Date of first Publication:2012/11/21
Publishing Institution:Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg
Release Date:2012/11/26
Volume:7
Issue:11: e50073
Page Number:12
Note:
Copyright: © 2012 Helfrich et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
HeBIS-PPN:314623337
Institutes:Medizin / Medizin
Dewey Decimal Classification:6 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / 61 Medizin und Gesundheit / 610 Medizin und Gesundheit
Sammlungen:Universitätspublikationen
Licence (German):License LogoCreative Commons - Namensnennung 2.0