Song Donghui, Deng Xin-Ping, Chang Da, Wang Ze
State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, No. 19, Xinjiekouwai St, Haidian District, Beijing 100875, China.
IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, No. 19, Xinjiekouwai St, Haidian District, Beijing 100875, China.
Cereb Cortex. 2025 Jul 1;35(7). doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhaf171.
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a non-invasive neuromodulation technique used to treat neuropsychiatric disorders. Despite its efficacy, its neuro-mechanisms remain unclear. Brain entropy (BEN), a measure of the irregularity and complexity of brain activity, has been shown to reflect the effects of high-frequency rTMS (HF-rTMS). However, it remains unknown whether BEN is sensitive to low-frequency rTMS (LF-rTMS), as well as to target-specific effects. Eighteen healthy adult participants underwent continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (L-DLPFC), and 23 healthy adult participants underwent LF-rTMS targeting the L-DLPFC, left temporoparietal junction (L-TPJ), and left occipital cortex (L-OCC). Magnetic resonance imaging scans were performed pre- and post-stimulation, and BEN maps were calculated from the preprocessed functional images. Results showed that cTBS over L-DLPFC increased BEN in the medial orbitofrontal cortex (MOFC), while L-DLPFC LF-rTMS increased BEN in the MOFC, subgenual anterior cingulate cortex, and putamen. LF-rTMS at the L-TPJ increased BEN in the right TPJ, while LF-rTMS at the L-OCC decreased BEN in the posterior cingulate cortex. These findings demonstrate BEN remains sensitive to LF-rTMS and exhibits target-specific effects. Furthermore, this work advances BEN as a promising biomarker for rTMS effects beyond motor cortex paradigms.
重复经颅磁刺激（rTMS）是一种用于治疗神经精神疾病的非侵入性神经调节技术。尽管其疗效显著，但其神经机制仍不清楚。脑熵（BEN）是衡量脑活动不规则性和复杂性的指标，已被证明可反映高频rTMS（HF-rTMS）的效果。然而，尚不清楚BEN是否对低频rTMS（LF-rTMS）敏感，以及是否具有靶点特异性效应。18名健康成年参与者在左侧背外侧前额叶皮层（L-DLPFC）接受连续theta爆发刺激（cTBS），23名健康成年参与者接受针对L-DLPFC、左侧颞顶联合区（L-TPJ）和左侧枕叶皮层（L-OCC）的LF-rTMS。在刺激前后进行磁共振成像扫描，并从预处理的功能图像中计算BEN图谱。结果显示，L-DLPFC上的cTBS增加了内侧眶额皮层（MOFC）的BEN，而L-DLPFC的LF-rTMS增加了MOFC、膝下前扣带回皮层和壳核的BEN。L-TPJ处的LF-rTMS增加了右侧TPJ的BEN，而L-OCC处的LF-rTMS降低了后扣带回皮层的BEN。这些发现表明BEN对LF-rTMS仍然敏感，并表现出靶点特异性效应。此外，这项工作推动了BEN作为一种有前途的生物标志物，用于研究运动皮层范式之外的rTMS效应。
