Motor potentials evoked by transcranial magnetic stimulation: interpreting a simple measure of a complex system.

ABSTRACT: Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive technique that is increasingly used to study the human brain. One of the principal outcome measures is the motor-evoked potential (MEP) elicited in a muscle following TMS over the primary motor cortex (M1), where it is used to estimate changes in corticospinal excitability. However, multiple elements play a role in MEP generation, so even apparently simple measures such as peak-to-peak amplitude have a complex interpretation. Here, we summarize what is currently known regarding the neural pathways and circuits that contribute to the MEP and discuss the factors that should be considered when interpreting MEP amplitude measured at rest in the context of motor processing and patients with neurological conditions. In the last part of th

SUBMITTER: Spampinato DA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10952180 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature