Interaction between adjacent cortical areas examined by a novel TMS system

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26560322
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Developmental mechanisms and the body works
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Nozaki Daichi 東京大学, 教育学研究科(研究院), 教授 (70360683)
• Research Collaborator: KADOTA Hiroshi 高知工科大学, 総合研究所, 准教授 (00415366) ; HIRASHIMA Masaya 国立研究開発法人情報通信研究機構, 脳情報通信融合研究センター, 主任研究員 (20541949) ; KIMURA Takahiro 高知工科大学, 総合研究所, 助教 (50632254)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 非侵襲的脳刺激法 / 経頭蓋磁気刺激 / 大脳皮質 / 一次運動野

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We have developed a novel system by which 2 adjacent sites within primary motor cortex can stimulated successively. To this end, we tried to move the TMS coil rapidly using an industrial robot arm. First, we confirmed this system enabled to move the coil accurately. The time needed to move the coil by 2 cm along the scalp was approximately 150 ms, but this time could be shortened to 50 ms by changing the location to connect the coil with the robot arm. We also examined how the MEP induced by TMS could be modulated by the preceding TMS applied to 4 different sites that was apart from the position by 2 cm. We observed that a wide variety of inhibitory and facilitatory patterns could be induced by the conditioning TMS, which might reflect the interaction between the adjacent sites within primary motor cortex.

Free Research Field

身体教育科学