School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Whiteknights, RG6 6AL, United Kingdom.
School of Psychology, University Park, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, United Kingdom.
J Neurosci Methods. 2018 Apr 1;299:34-44. doi: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2018.02.008. Epub 2018 Feb 19.
The magnetic pulse generated during transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) also stimulates cutaneous nerves and muscle fibres, with the most commonly reported side effect being muscle twitches and sometimes painful sensations. These sensations affect behaviour during experimental tasks, presenting a potential confound for 'online' TMS studies.
Our objective was to systematically map the degree of disturbance (ratings of annoyance, pain, and muscle twitches) caused by TMS at 43 locations across the scalp. Ten participants provided ratings whilst completing a choice reaction time task, and ten different participants provided ratings whilst completing a 'flanker' reaction time task.
TMS over frontal and inferior regions resulted in the highest ratings of annoyance, pain, and muscle twitches caused by TMS. We predicted the difference in reaction times (RT) under TMS by scalp location and subjective ratings. Frontal and inferior scalp locations showed the greatest cost to RTs under TMS (i.e., slowing), with midline sites showing no or minimal slowing. Increases in subjective ratings of disturbance predicted longer RTs under TMS. Critically, ratings were a better predictor of the cost of TMS than scalp location or scalp-to-cortex distance. The more difficult 'flanker' task showed a greater effect of subjective disturbance.
We provide the data as an online resource (www.tms-smart.info) so that researchers can select control sites that account for the level of general interference in task performance caused by online single-pulse TMS.
The peripheral sensations and discomfort caused by TMS pulses significantly and systematically influence RTs during single-pulse, online TMS experiments.
经颅磁刺激（TMS）产生的磁脉冲也会刺激皮肤神经和肌肉纤维，最常见的副作用是肌肉抽搐，有时还会感到疼痛。这些感觉会影响实验任务中的行为，这是“在线”TMS 研究的一个潜在混杂因素。
我们的目标是系统地绘制 TMS 在头皮 43 个位置引起的干扰程度（烦扰、疼痛和肌肉抽搐的评分）。10 名参与者在完成选择反应时任务时提供评分，另外 10 名不同的参与者在完成“侧抑制”反应时任务时提供评分。
TMS 在前额和下部区域引起的烦扰、疼痛和肌肉抽搐评分最高。我们根据头皮位置和主观评分预测 TMS 下的反应时差异。前额和下部头皮位置的 TMS 对 RT 的影响最大（即减慢），中线位置没有或几乎没有减慢。主观干扰评分的增加预测了 TMS 下 RT 的延长。至关重要的是，评分比头皮位置或头皮到皮质的距离更能预测 TMS 的成本。更困难的“侧抑制”任务表现出更大的主观干扰效应。
我们提供了数据作为在线资源（www.tms-smart.info），以便研究人员可以选择控制部位，以考虑在线单次脉冲 TMS 引起的任务表现一般干扰程度。
TMS 脉冲引起的外周感觉和不适会显著且系统地影响单次脉冲在线 TMS 实验中的 RT。
