Effects of motor and premotor cortex repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on reaction times in a masked priming task

Delayed motor tasks require timely interaction between immobility and action. The neural substrates of these processes probably reside in the premotor and motor circuits; however, fine-grained anatomical/functional information is still lacking. Participants performed a delayed simple reaction task, structured as a ready-set-go sequence, with a fixed, predictable, SET-period. Responses were given with lip movements. During the SET-period, we performed a systematic dense-mapping of the bilateral dorsal premotor region (dPM) by means of single transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) pulses on an 18-spot mapping grid, interleaved with sham TMS which served as a baseline. Reaction times (RTs) in TMS trials over each grid spot were compared to RTs in sham trials to build a statistical parametric z-map. The results reveal a rostro-caudal functional gradient in the dPM. TMS of the rostral dPM induced a shift from reactive towards predictive response strategies. TMS of the caudal dPM interfered with the SET-period duration. By means of dense TMS mapping, we have drawn a putative functional map of the role of the dPM during the SET-period. A higher-order rostral component is involved in setting action strategies and a caudal, lower-order, part is probably involved in the inhibitory control of motor output.

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One hertz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation over dorsal premotor cortex enhances offline motor memory consolidation for sequence-specific implicit learning

European Journal of Neuroscience ◽

10.1111/ejn.12291 ◽

2013 ◽

pp. n/a-n/a ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

S. K. Meehan ◽

J. R. Zabukovec ◽

E. Dao ◽

K. L. Cheung ◽

M. A. Linsdell ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽

Implicit Learning ◽

Memory Consolidation ◽

Magnetic Stimulation ◽

Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽

Premotor Cortex ◽

Motor Memory ◽

Dorsal Premotor Cortex

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Relief of primary cervical dystonia symptoms by low frequency transcranial magnetic stimulation of the premotor cortex: case report

Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria ◽

10.1590/s0004-282x2007000400030 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 65 (3a) ◽

pp. 697-699 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Nasser Allam ◽

Joaquim Pereira Brasil-Neto ◽

Pedro Brandão ◽

Fernanda Weiler ◽

Jairo de Barros Filho ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Case Report ◽

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽

Magnetic Stimulation ◽

Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽

Premotor Cortex ◽

Low Frequency ◽

Motor Symptoms ◽

Motor Threshold ◽

Segmental Dystonia ◽

Stimulation Of

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on the symptoms of a patient with primary segmental dystonia (PSD). METHOD: 1200 TMS pulses at a frequency of 1Hz, over the premotor cortex, with an intensity of 90% of the motor threshold (MT), using an eight-shaped coil; a total of 5 sessions were carried out. RESULTS: A reduction of 50 percent in the neck subset of the Burke, Fahn and Marsden torsion dystonia scale (BFM) was observed in our patient. CONCLUSION: The reduction in the BFM scale supports the concept that rTMS of the premotor cortex may reduce specific motor symptoms in PSD.

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Left But Not Right Temporal Involvement in Opaque Idiom Comprehension: A Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Study

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/089892904970717 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 16 (5) ◽

pp. 848-855 ◽

Cited By ~ 65

Author(s):

Massimiliano Oliveri ◽

Leonor Romero ◽

Costanza Papagno

Keyword(s):

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽

Magnetic Stimulation ◽

Figurative Language ◽

Sentence Comprehension ◽

Right Hemisphere ◽

Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽

Temporal Cortex ◽

Reaction Times ◽

The Subject ◽

The Right

It has been suggested that figurative language, which includes idioms, is controlled by the right hemisphere. We tested the right hemisphere hypothesis by using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to transiently disrupt the function of the frontal and temporal areas of the right versus left hemisphere in a group of normal participants involved in a task of opaque idiom versus literal sentence comprehension. Forty opaque, nonambiguous idioms were selected. Fifteen young healthy participants underwent rTMS in two sessions. The experiment was run in five blocks, corresponding to the four stimulated scalp positions (left frontal and temporal and right frontal and temporal) and a baseline. Each block consisted of 16 trials—8 trials with idioms and 8 trials with literal sentences. In each trial, the subject was presented with a written sentence, which appeared on the screen for 2000 msec, followed by a pair of pictures for 2500 msec, one of which corresponded to the sentence. The alternative corresponded to the literal meaning for idioms and to a sentence differing in a detail in the case of literal sentences. The subject had to press a button corresponding to the picture matching the string. Reaction times increased following left temporal rTMS, whereas they were unaffected by right hemisphere rTMS, with no difference between idiomatic and literal sentences. Left temporal rTMS also reduced accuracy without differences between the two types of sentences. These data suggest that opaque idiom and literal sentence comprehension depends on the left temporal cortex.

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