Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation News and Research

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Brain-stimulation method provides significant reductions in phantom limb pain

As many as 25,000 people a year worldwide lose limbs from land mine blasts, and a new study, published in The Journal of Pain, shows that transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) administered to the scalp can stimulate the brain and provide significant reductions in phantom limb pain.

10 Aug 2016

Researchers use TMS–EEG device to examine the brain activity of people in NREM sleep

Researchers from Aalto University and the University of Wisconsin utilised a TMS-EEG device, which combines transcranial magnetic stimulation and EEG, to examine how the brain activity of people in the restful non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep is affected by whether they dream or do not dream.

10 Aug 2016

Noninvasive brain stimulation may curb cravings for appetitive foods

Available research suggests that noninvasive stimulation of a specific brain area can reduce food cravings—particularly for high-calorie, "appetitive" foods, according to a review in the Psychosomatic Medicine: Journal of Biobehavioral Medicine, the official journal of the American Psychosomatic Society. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.

20 Jul 2016

Non-drug solutions for postpartum depression: an interview with Dr David Brock & Christopher Thatcher

Postpartum depression (PPD) is reported to occur in 10-15% of delivering women with an estimated 400,000 women affected annually in the US. It is the most common complication of childbirth and is a significant public health concern.

11 Jul 2016

Technical advances in neuroimaging offer new promise to clinicians

The current special issue of Technology and Innovation, Journal of the National Academy of Inventors, Volume 18, Number 1 (all open access), is devoted to the evolution of neuroimaging technology, with seven articles chronicling the latest advances in this critical area.

25 May 2016

Study demonstrates effectiveness of NeuroStar TMS Therapy System in women with postpartum depression

An unfortunate fact facing mothers in the U.S. is that postpartum depression is the most common complication of childbirth. Approximately 10 to 15 percent of women who give birth each year – or roughly 600,000 women – experience postpartum depression symptoms.

18 May 2016

Transcranial magnetic stimulation of STS can change behaviour of gaze

A study financed by the Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris has been conducted under the direction of Monica Zilbovicius in the Inserm Unit 1000 on a particular region of the brain, the superior temporal sulcus (STS), influencing perception and behaviour of the gaze.

24 Mar 2016

Study points to potential way to make people behave in less selfish, more altruistic ways

It's an age-old quandary: Are we born "noble savages" whose best intentions are corrupted by civilization, as the 18th century Swiss philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau contended? Or are we fundamentally selfish brutes who need civilization to rein in our base impulses, as the 17th century English philosopher Thomas Hobbes argued? After exploring the areas of the brain that fuel our empathetic impulses -- and temporarily disabling other regions that oppose those impulses -- two UCLA neuroscientists are coming down on the optimistic side of human nature.

21 Mar 2016

Learning complex tactile tasks activates the visual cortex

Biology lessons teach us that the brain is divided into separate areas, each of which processes a specific sense. But findings to be published in eLife show we can supercharge it to be more flexible.

15 Mar 2016

Neuroscientists identify the brain network system that causes people to slip when anxious

As musicians, figure skaters and anyone who takes a driving test will know, the anxiety of being watched can have a disastrous effect on your performance. Now neuroscientists at the University of Sussex's Sackler Centre and Brighton and Sussex Medical School have identified the brain network system that causes us to stumble and stall just when we least want to.

20 Jan 2016

Nerve damage caused by leprosy linked to changes in the brain of patients

Brain plasticity is the ability of the brain to change both anatomically and functionally in response to changes in the body or in the environment.

10 Sep 2015

Cortical hyperexcitability has a driving role in ALS

Cortical hyperexcitability is an intrinsic feature of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis symptoms in patients carrying the chromosome 9 open reading frame 72 gene hexanucleotide repeat expansion, show study findings.

9 Sep 2015

Studies suggests that insular cortex may hold key to treating addiction

A pair of studies suggests that a region of the brain - called the insular cortex - may hold the key to treating addiction. Scientists have come to this conclusion after finding that smokers who suffered a stroke in the insular cortex were far more likely to quit smoking and experience fewer and less severe withdrawal symptoms than those with strokes in other parts of the brain.

8 Sep 2015

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation can alleviate FOG, improve motor skills in PD patients

About 50% of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) experience freezing of gait (FOG), an inability to move forward while walking. This can affect not only mobility but also balance. In a new study published in Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, researchers report that repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) can reduce FOG and improve other motor skills in PD patients.

1 Sep 2015

New way to understand how transcranial magnetic stimulation can give relief for severe depression

A group of UK scientists have found a way of understanding how transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) can give relief to severely depressed patients. TMS is used as an alternative to Electro-Convulsive Therapy (ECT), but it is not known how it achieves its therapeutic effect. Understanding how it works may open the door to better, more targeted treatment for depression and other conditions.

31 Aug 2015

Transcranial magnetic stimulation holds promise for tinnitus patients

In the largest U.S. clinical trial of its kind funded by the Veterans Affairs Rehabilitation Research and Development Service, researchers at the VA Portland Medical Center and Oregon Health & Science University found that transcranial magnetic stimulation significantly improved tinnitus symptoms for more than half of study participants.

17 Jul 2015

ALS ACT initiative to speed discovery of new ALS treatments

The ALS Association and the ALS Finding a Cure Foundation are pleased to announce $3 million in funding for two new Phase II clinical studies through the ALS Accelerated Therapeutics (ALS ACT) initiative.

1 Jul 2015

New depression treatment from Magstim to be exhibited at Royal College of Psychiatry International Congress 2015

The Magstim Company Ltd, an innovative and award winning Wales-based medical device manufacturer, will be showing its Magstim Rapid2 Therapy System at the Royal College of Psychiatry International Congress 2015 in Birmingham, UK, 29th June-2nd July.

From Magstim 17 Jun 2015

Weekly sessions of non-invasive brain stimulation improve outcomes in patients with post-stroke pain

Weekly sessions of non-invasive repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation provided sufficient long-term pain relief in 61 percent of patients with central post-stroke pain, and delivered long-term relief for patients who continued for one year, according to a study presented at the International Neuromodulation Society 12th World Congress by Masahito Kobayashi, MD, PhD, of the Department of Neurosurgery, Saitama Medical University - Department of Neurology, Institute of Brain and Blood Vessels, Mihara Memorial Hospital in Saitama, Japan.

10 Jun 2015

nTMS analysis of motor areas improves prognosis of patients with malignant brain tumors

A method known as navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (nTMS) has been gaining importance in neurosurgery for some time now.

22 May 2015