The Use of TMS in Neurological Research

In Dr. Lawrence Behmer’s work, he uses transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to measure activation of actions in a sequence using a typing task, in order to determine if there was evidence for parallel action regulation in humans. The researchers used strings of words and random strings mainly consisting of letters traditionally typed by the right index finger, and the typists were instructed to relay these strings of words/letters back. Transcranial magnetic stimulation was activated with the first stroke of the key. All of the participants were strongly right-handed. The results showed that there was a main effect for string type, indicating that it was easier for the participants to relay back the words rather than the random strings. There was also a cross interaction between string type and serial position.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation can be used for a variety of different psychological and neurological studies, not only in action regulation as demonstrated above. For example, in Basil et. al. 2005, the researchers reviewed how transcranial magnetic stimulation was used to test whether or not it was an efficient treatment for major depressive disorder in patients who had previously not responded to tradition effective treatments. In several of the studies included, rTMS was proven successful in significantly reducing depression in patients, however, in studies that used other forms, such as HF-rTMS in speeding up or strengthening the therapeutic response to sertraline in major depression, it was shown to have no benefit. This could potentially suggest that rTMS was a superior method as compared to alternative TMS measures.

The research on transcranial magnetic stimulation and its various effects within the body is extensive, yet there are many potential directions future researchers could take its uses. Dr. Behmer has increased its usefulness in his research regarding action regulation, and the researchers in Dr. Basil’s study have indicated that TMS can be useful in a multitude of psychological areas, such as major depressive disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, and more. The results from these experiments involving TMS show that this form of treatment is useful for several areas of study, and could be the key to many different aspects of psychology and neuroscience going forward.

Resources

Basil, B., Mahmud, J., Matthews, M., Rodriguez, C., & Adetunji, B. (2005). Is There Evidence for Effectiveness of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in the Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders? Psychiatry, MMC, 2(11), 64-69.