Dr. Elena Muñoz addresses the unanswered questions from her presentation “Transcranial magnetic stimulation in neuropsychological rehabilitation”

On May 23rd, the neuropsychologist Elena Muñoz gave a free online presentation at NeuronUP Academy ont ranscranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in neuropsychological rehabilitation. After her talk, a question and answer period was held, but due to time limits and the great interest of the audience, some questions remained unanswered. For the sake of completeness, our speaker agreed to answer them later through our blog and, today, we are posting her answers!

Before providing you with the answers to your questions, however, NeuronUP would like to thank Elena Muñoz once again for her willingness and ability to answer your questions.

Questions from the presentation

1. How to measure hyperexcitability of one hemisphere?

The hyperexcitability of the intact hemisphere after lesion or brain damagecan be measured in different ways: with neuroimaging techniques (e.g., functional magnetic resonance imaging or fMRI, primarily), electrophysiological techniques (e.g., electroencephalography or EEG) and by usingpaired-pulseTMS (ppTMS). You can read more about it in the references provided for question number 7.

2. What is the difference between neurofeedback and transcranial magnetic stimulation?

They have nothing to do with each other.Neurofeedback, a form of biofeedback, is a technique in which subjects attempt to altertheirEEG patterns, while TMS is an example of an external neuromodulation technique, i.e., a magnetic field is used to induce an electric current into the brain to modify neuronal activity.

Neurofeedback is currently being applied in the treatment of different conditions such as ADHD.

https://www.fundacioncadah.org/web/articulo/neurofeedback-que-es-en-que-consiste-es-eficaz-para-tratar-el-tdah.html

3. When is this technique used? Is it commonly used when conventional treatments don’t work, e.g., pharmacological treatments?

You don’t have to wait until other treatments don’t work. In my opinion, it would be advisable to start treatments at the same time, although I do not like to use TMS forpatients in the acutestage, but ratherwhen they are in sub-acute or chronic stages.

4. How much does a TMS device cost? And what about a transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) device?

The TMS device costs approximately 60,000 euros and the tDCS between 5,000 and 15,000 euros depending on the model and the available features.

5. Has this technique been applied to individuals with intellectual disability? Could it be beneficial (on a case-by-case basis)?

Yes, it could be beneficial and some interesting things have been done regarding autism.

6. What would you recommend for those people who would like to use this method?What brands would you recommend (different TMS device manufacturers)?Which shape and position (circular, figure-eight, cone-shaped coils, etc.)?

We use theMagstim Super Rapid²with figure-eight coils and have no problems!

7. Could you provide us with scientific papers on this technique?

The following are interesting references on TMS andtDCS (both are non-invasive brain stimulation techniques).

• Koch et al. 2013_The hyperexcitability of the left intact hemisphere in neglect
• Lefacheur et al. 2014_Evidence based guidelines rTMS
• Lefacheur et al. 2017_Evidence based guidelines tDCS
• Pascual-Leone y Tormos_2008_Estimulación magnética transcraneal_Fundamentos
• Schulz, Gerloff& Hummel_2013_Non-invasive brain stimulation in neurological diseases

Watch Elena Muñoz’s presentation again

Would you like to watch Elena Muñoz’s presentation on transcranial magnetic stimulation in neuropsychological rehabilitation? If you are a NeuronUP client, you can!

How can I watch Elena Muñoz’s pre-recorded presentation?

1. Access NeuronUP with your user name and password.
2. Click on “NeuronUPAcademy.”
3. Now you can enjoy Elena Muñoz’s presentation.

For more information, click here.

If you liked this post about the unanswered questions from Elena Muñoz’s presentation on “Transcranial magnetic stimulation in neuropsychological rehabilitation”, you might find the following interesting as well:

• Ángel Sánchez continues answering questions from his presentation “Functional consequences of apraxia”
• Dr. Marcos Ríos addresses some of unaswered questions from his presentation “Slow processing speed”

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Herramienta profesional de neurorrehabilitación

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