Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for stroke rehabilitation-potential therapy or misplaced hope?

Repeated sessions of transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) are capable of changing and modulating neural activity beyond the period of stimulation. Because many neurological disorders are thought to involve abnormal or dysfunctional neuronal activity, it is hypothesised that the therapeutic action of rTMS may occur through modulating and reversing abnormal activity and facilitating neuroplasticity.Numerous clinical studies have investigated the safety and efficacy of rTMS treatment for a wide variety of conditions including depression, anxiety disorders including obsessive compulsive disorder, Parkinson's disease, stroke, tinnitus, affective disorders, schizophrenia and chronic pain.

Functional effects of genetic polymorphism in inflammatory genes in subjective memory complainers.

A number of genetic risk factors have been identified for Alzheimer's disease (AD) including genes involved in the inflammatory response (interleukin 1A, [IL-1α (-889)], interleukin 1B (IL-1β [+3953]), and tumor necrosis factor (TNF [-308 and -850]). We investigated the prevalence and functional consequences (baseline cognitive performance, plasma cytokine levels) of possession of these putative genetic risk factors within a group of subjective memory complainers (SMC, n = 226) and age and sex matched noncomplainers (NMC, n = 167). We observed no effect of any of the genetic factors investigated on cognitive performance.