Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation News and Research

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Researchers use magnetic brain stimulation to alleviate anxiety

It is possible to unlearn fears. And this works even better when a specific region of the brain has previously been stimulated magnetically. This has been shown by researchers from the Würzburg University Hospital in a new study.

13 Sep 2017

Scientists win new funding to speed up translation of MS research into practice

An innovative multiple sclerosis Research Fellowship designed to fast-track scientific knowledge into clinical practice has been awarded to two researchers at the University of Tasmania’s Menzies Institute for Medical Research.

6 Sep 2017

Scientists identify and target specific brain area related to ‘hearing voices’ in schizophrenia

For the first time, scientists have precisely identified and targeted an area of the brain which is involved in "hearing voices", experienced by many patients with schizophrenia.

5 Sep 2017

Long-term alcohol use changes brain functions differently in young men and women

Scientists have found that brain functions in young men and women are changed by long-term alcohol use, but that these changes are significantly different in men and women.

4 Sep 2017

Study suggests neural mechanism behind contagious yawning

A study named “A neural basis for contagious yawning” conducted at the University of Nottingham suggests that primitive reflexes that originate in the primary motor cortex, a section of the brain accountable for motor function, are responsible for automatically initiating the human tendency for contagious yawning.

1 Sep 2017

Human propensity for contagious yawning triggered by primitive reflexes in the brain, research suggests

Feeling tired? Even if we aren't tired, why do we yawn if someone else does? Experts at the University of Nottingham have published research that suggests the human propensity for contagious yawning is triggered automatically by primitive reflexes in the primary motor cortex -- an area of the brain responsible for motor function.

31 Aug 2017

Study finds transcranial direct-current stimulation to be less effective than anti-depressants

A new study questions the efficacy of treatments for depression based on stimulating brain areas with low-intensity electric current. The technique, known as transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS), was considered a promising alternative to treatment with antidepressant drugs.

31 Aug 2017

Magnetic stimulation of the prefrontal cortex improved test subjects’ evaluation of own performance

Researchers at Aalto University and the University of Helsinki have succeeded for the first time ever in affecting metacognition of a tactile working memory task by combining neural pathway imaging and magnetic stimulation of the brain.

29 Aug 2017

New method may help distinguish frontotemporal dementia from Alzheimer's disease

A new method may help determine whether a person has Alzheimer's disease or frontotemporal dementia, two different types of dementia that often have similar symptoms, according to a preliminary study published in the July 26, 2017, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

27 Jul 2017

Study provides evidence that cortical targets could enhance motor function after spinal cord injury

Monica A. Perez, P.T., Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Neurological Surgery and The Miami Project, and colleagues, recently published A novel cortical target to enhance hand motor output in humans with spinal cord injury in the June issue of Brain that provides the first evidence that cortical targets could represent a novel therapeutic site for improving motor function in humans paralyzed by spinal cord injury (SCI).

23 Jun 2017

Specific cerebral circuitry bridges chemical changes and behavioral expressions in PTSD

Specific cerebral circuitry bridges chemical changes deep in the brain and the more outward behavioral expressions associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which could lead to more objective biomarkers for the disorder, according to a comprehensive review of rapidly changing data published June 22 in The New England Journal of Medicine.

22 Jun 2017

Study finds that protocol of rTMS reduces spasticity in spinal cord injury patients

Spasticity, uncontrolled muscle contractions, is a common disorder experienced by patients with spinal cord injuries.

20 Jun 2017

Researchers exploring impact of emotional spillover in the brain

Life is full of emotional highs and lows, ranging from enjoying an activity with a loved one and savoring a delicious meal to feeling hurt by a negative interaction with a co-worker or that recent scuffle with a family member.

16 Jun 2017

UCLA offers transcranial magnetic stimulation to treat patients with depression

Americans spend billions of dollars each year on antidepressants, but the National Institutes of Health estimates that those medications work for only 60 percent to 70 percent of people who take them.

14 Jun 2017

Single bout of exercise can have significant positive behavioral and cognitive effects

In a new review of the effects of acute exercise published in Brain Plasticity, researchers not only summarize the behavioral and cognitive effects of a single bout of exercise, but also summarize data from a large number of neurophysiological and neurochemical studies in both humans and animals showing the wide range of brain changes that result from a single session of physical exercise.

12 Jun 2017

TMS therapy offers hope for senior adults with depression

Late-life depression (LLD) is a frequent complication of the aging process, occurring in up to 5% of senior adults and in a higher proportion of subjects with coexistent medical illnesses.

1 Jun 2017

Study investigates plasticity of motor representations in patients with brain tumors

Winner of the Brainlab Community Neurosurgery Award, Sandro Krieg, MD, presented his research, Plasticity of Motor Representations in Patients with Brain Lesions: a Navigated TMS Study, during the 2017 American Association of Neurological Surgeons Annual Scientific Meeting.

26 Apr 2017

Noninvasive dTMS technique helps obese people lose weight by changing gut microbiota composition

A new study finds that a noninvasive electromagnetic brain stimulation technique helps obese people lose weight, partly by changing the composition of their intestinal bacteria—the so-called gut microbiota.

4 Apr 2017

Using magnets to improve memory

The ability to remember sounds, and manipulate them in our minds, is incredibly important to our daily lives -- without it we would not be able to understand a sentence, or do simple arithmetic. New research is shedding light on how sound memory works in the brain, and is even demonstrating a means to improve it.

27 Mar 2017

Researchers examine how stimulating motor cortex affects word comprehension

Researchers from HSE, Northumbria University, and Aarhus University have experimentally confirmed the hypothesis, whereby comprehension of a word's meaning involves not only the 'classic' language brain centres but also the cortical regions responsible for the control of body muscles, such as hand movements.

15 Feb 2017