Rothwell John
UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK.
Brain Neurosci Adv. 2018 Dec 4;2:2398212818818070. doi: 10.1177/2398212818818070. eCollection 2018 Jan-Dec.
This article provides a brief summary of the history of transcranial methods for stimulating the human brain in conscious volunteers and reviews the methodology and physiology of transcranial magnetic stimulation and transcranial direct current stimulation. The former stimulates neural axons and generates action potentials and synaptic activity, whereas the latter polarises the membrane potential of neurones and changes their sensitivity to ongoing synaptic inputs. When coupled with brain imaging methods such as functional magnetic resonance imaging or electroencephalography, transcranial magnetic stimulation can be used to chart connectivity within the brain. In addition, because it induces artificial patterns of activity that interfere with ongoing information processing within a cortical area, it is frequently used in cognitive psychology to produce a short-lasting 'virtual lesion'. Both transcranial magnetic stimulation and transcranial direct current stimulation can produce short-lasting changes in synaptic excitability and associated changes in behaviour that are presently the source of much research for their therapeutic potential.
本文简要总结了在清醒志愿者中刺激人脑的经颅方法的历史，并回顾了经颅磁刺激和经颅直流电刺激的方法及生理学原理。前者刺激神经轴突并产生动作电位和突触活动，而后者使神经元的膜电位极化并改变其对持续突触输入的敏感性。当与功能磁共振成像或脑电图等脑成像方法结合使用时，经颅磁刺激可用于绘制大脑内的连接性。此外，由于它能诱导干扰皮质区域内正在进行的信息处理的人工活动模式，因此在认知心理学中经常被用于产生短暂的“虚拟损伤”。经颅磁刺激和经颅直流电刺激都能在突触兴奋性上产生短暂变化以及行为上的相关变化，目前这些变化因其治疗潜力而成为大量研究的对象。
