A brief summary of TMS measures of cortical excitability and their relationship to neurotransmitters
TMS Measure | MEP (right anterior pollicis brevis response, following TMS to the left motor cortex) | Neurochemistry Involved | Select References |
---|---|---|---|
Resting motor threshold | ![]() | Ion channels (voltage-gated Na+, AMPA glutamate) | Ziemann and Rothwell (2000), Di Lazzaro et al. (2008) |
Paired pulse facilitation (long interval facilitation, 15 ms) | ![]() | Glutamate (AMPA, NMDA) | Reis et al. (2008) |
Paired pulse inhibition (short interval inhibition, 3 ms) | ![]() | GABAa | Ziemann et al. (1996), Di Lazzaro et al. (2000a), Korchounov et al. (2005) |
Cortical silent period | ![]() | GABAb, dopamine | Ziemann et al. (1993) |
Recruitment curve (dose–response curve) | ![]() | Causal relationship between TMS input and MEP output | Hanlon et al. (2015a) |