Noninvasive Brain Stimulation (NIBS)

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This course will provide students with an in-depth knowledge of; non- invasive magnetic brain stimulation techniques, including the mechanisms of action; the physico-physiological principles; various application protocols; functional magnetic brain stimulation paradigms and approaches for combining brain stimulation with brain imaging techniques simultaneously within the same experimental session. Since the very beginning of experimental brain research, neuroscientists have dreamed about not only observing the brain at work, but actually changing and modulating the neuronal activity in the brain without causing harm to patients or subjects. With the development of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) it is now possible to non- invasively reach into the skull of a patient or healthy subject and to temporarily alter brain activity at a specific location. This possibility of TMS opens the door to a wide range of experimental and clinical applications. In combination with methods of functional imaging, it is not only possible to passively measure the brain activity during the execution of a particular function, but TMS can also be used to increase or decrease the neuronal activity in the task-related brain area and reveal behavioural changes in the actual task performance. This enables identification of those brain areas that are functionally relevant to a particular function. In a clinical context, TMS has also been used to treat neurological and psychiatric diseases that are accompanied by a pathologically increased or decreased activity in a specific brain region. Since TMS offers the possibility to increase or decrease neuronal activity beyond the stimulation itself, it might, in the future, become a powerful therapeutic tool to help treat diseases like depression or schizophrenia.