Pre-treatment anterior cingulate activity as a predictor of antidepressant response to repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS).

Objectives: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a brain stimulation technique which has received increasing attention as an antidepressant treatment. However available studies are characterized by a substantial variability in response. We hypothesized that individual patients' characteristics might contribute to such heterogeneity.

Comparison perception of singular transcranial magnetic stimuli by subjectively electrosensitive subjects and general population controls.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex by single pulses of varying field intensities was used to measure thresholds of individual perception and motor response in three groups of subjects: subjectively electrosensitive people, general population controls with a high burden of complaints related to electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure in the literature (highest decile in complaint burden), and general population controls with a low burden of complaints (lowest decile in complaint burden). The major study endpoint was the ability of the subjects to differentiate between real magnetic stimulation and a sham condition. There were no significant differences between groups in the thresholds, neither of detecting the real magnetic stimulus nor in motor response.

Cortical excitability in neuroleptic-naive first-episode schizophrenic patients.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) provides an intriguing in vivo method to investigate motor cortex excitability in men. This offers new insights into the neurophysiological basis of neuropsychiatric diseases. Earlier TMS studies in patients with schizophrenia revealed inconsistent results, probably due to major confounding variables like state of medication and stage of illness.

[Transcranial magnetic stimulation for nicotine dependence].

70-80% of regular smokers fulfill the ICD-10-criteria of dependence. In Germany, approximately 120,000 deaths per year are caused by tobacco-associated diseases. In contrast, therapeutic interventions, such as nicotine substitution or bupropione, yield poor abstinence rates of 30% after 12 months, at best.

[Repetitiv Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Nicotine Dependence].

70 - 80 % of regular smokers fulfill the ICD-10-criteria of dependence. In Germany, approximately 120 000 deaths per year are caused by tobacco-associated diseases. In contrast, therapeutic interventions, such as nicotine substitution or bupropione, yield poor abstinence rates of 30 % after 12 months, at best.

Neuronavigated rTMS in a patient with chronic tinnitus. Effects of 4 weeks treatment.

Clinical, neurophysiological and neuroimaging data suggest that chronic tinnitus resembles neuropsychiatric syndromes characterised by focal brain activation. Low frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has been proposed as an efficient method in treating brain hyperexcitability disorders. In one patient suffering from chronic tinnitus, [18F]deoxyglucose PET revealed increased metabolic activity in a circumscript area of the left primary auditory cortex (PAC).

Allelic variation in the serotonin transporter promoter affects neuromodulatory effects of a selective serotonin transporter reuptake inhibitor (SSRI).

Rationale: Antidepressant efficacy of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) has been shown to depend on functional polymorphisms within the promoter region of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR). This gene gives rise to a biallelic polymorphism designated long (l) and short (s). Homozygosity for the long variant (ll-genotype) is associated with a two times more efficient 5-HT uptake compared to the s/l- or s/s-genotype.