Measurement of evoked electroencephalography induced by transcranial magnetic stimulation

This study focused on the measurement of evoked potentials induced by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) for observing the neuronal connectivity in the brain. We developed an electroencephalography (EEG) measurement system to eliminate the electromagnetic interaction emitted from TMS. EEG activities 5 ms after TMS stimulation were measured. Using this artifact free amplifier, we investigated the intensity dependence of brain activation induced by TMS. When the stimulus intensity was changed at three levels, TMS-evoked EEG responses were measured. Several components of the evoked potential appeared at 9 ms, 20 ms, and 50 ms after stimulation. A large response appeared at about 9 ms after cerebellar TMS. There was a significant dependence of these responses on the stimulus intensity. During right-hand side motor area stimulation, there was no clear peak of the wave forms within 10 ms latency. Occipital stimulation caused more evoked responses to spread to the center of the brain than at other areas of stimulation. The evoked signal by TMS was possibly conducted posteriorly to anteriorly along the pathways of the neuronal fiber exiting the cerebellum into the cerebral cortex. © 2003 American Institute of Physics.