Affiliations: Department of Neurological, Neurophysiological,
Morphological and Motor Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
Note: [] Corresponding author: Paolo Manganotti, MD, Ph.D., Associated
Professor, Department of Neurological, Neurophysiological, Morphological and
Motor Sciences, University of Verona, Policlinico GB Rossi, Piazzale LA Scuro,
10, 37134 Verona, Italy. Tel.: +39 45 8124285; Fax: +39 45 8124873; E-mail:
paolo.manganotti@univr.it
Abstract: Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) evolved from a simple method
to stimulate the motor cortex to an invaluable tool for multiple diagnostic,
research, and therapeutic applications. A further development of this noninvasive brain stimulation
technique is concomitant electroencephalographic (EEG) recording during TMS.
The theoretical underpinnings and the technological innovation of TMS-EEG
co-registration have opened new ways to study brain excitability in
neurological conditions previously investigated with conventional EEG alone. A
further advance in TMS research applications is the perturbational approach:
magnetic pulses can interfere not only with dynamic, often pathological rhythms
in epilepsy or altered consciousness states, but also modulate physiological
states such as sleep and sleep deprivation. So applied, TMS-EEG co-registration
can reveal different neurophysiological and behavioral patterns in the awake
state, sleep or sleep deprivation. In this review, we discuss the use of TMS and TMS-EEG
co-registration in epilepsy, a still rather limited although promising area of
study.
