Timing TMS With Brain Activity May Help Treat Epilepsy

Source: bioRxiv

Summary

Researchers studied a method called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to see if it could be effectively timed to occur during specific brain activity known as interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs). The study involved two children with a type of epilepsy called self-limited epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes, which is common in kids. The goal was to understand how TMS could be used to stimulate the brain during these IEDs, which happen between seizures.

The key finding was that TMS could indeed be timed to occur during IEDs, and when this happened, the brain's response to the stimulation was stronger in specific areas. For the two children, TMS was successfully delivered during IEDs about 39% and 19% of the time. This means that the researchers were able to stimulate the brain at the right moments, which could help in understanding how these brain activities relate to epilepsy.

This research is important because it opens up new possibilities for using TMS in treating epilepsy by targeting brain activity more precisely. However, there are limitations, such as the small number of participants and the need for more research to refine the methods used. Future studies could help improve how TMS is applied in epilepsy treatment and enhance our understanding of the brain's electrical activity during seizures.

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