Effect of transcranial magnetic stimulation on changes in cortical structures activity during BCI motory-imagery performance

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), which is a non-invasive method of stimulating the cerebral cortex, is a modern and promising method of neuromodulation. TMS is proposed to be used as one of the components of the motor imagery type brain-computer interface (BCI MI) for neurorehabilitation after a stroke. It is assumed that through the action of TMS on the cortex, it is possible to make some changes in the time-frequency characteristics of oscillations associated with motor imagery. In this work, we investigate motor cortex activity changes after using targeting repetitive TMS (rTMS). Twenty-nine subjects took part in the experiment. The study has shown that transcranial magnetic stimulation with specified parameters (frequency 5 Hz, duration 6 minutes, 90% of the muscle activation threshold at rest) leads to preactivation of brain areas similar to the area activated in the first 0.5 seconds after the start of motor imagination with statistical significance (p<0.05).