Induction of a recall deficit by rapid-rate transcranial magnetic stimulation

1994

We used rapid-rate, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) for the noninvasive study of verbal recall. Five right-handed normal subjects were studied. Recall followed immediately after presentation of a 12-word list. Focal rTMS was applied with a figure eight coil in trains of 500 ms duration to F7, F8, T5, T6, P3, P4, or O1, O2 at latencies of 0, 250, 500, or 1000 ms during word list presentation. Recall was consistently significantly diminished only after left mid-temporal and bilateral dorsofrontal rTMS at both 0 and 250 ms latencies. We conclude that rTMS may be useful as a non-invasive tool for the study of verbal memory processes.

The role of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in implicit procedural learning.

1996

We studied the role of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in procedural learning. Normal subjects completed several blocks of a serial reaction time task using only one hand without or with concurrent non-invasive repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation. To disrupt their function transiently, stimulation was applied at low intensity over the supplementary motor area or over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex contralateral or ipsilateral to the hand used for the test. Stimulation to the contralateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex markedly impaired procedural implicit learning, as documented by the lack of significant change in response times during the task. Stimulation over the other …

Procedural learning and prefrontal cortex.

1995