0000000001009336
AUTHOR
Alvaro Pascual-leone Pascual
Lateralized effects of self-induced sadness and happiness on corticospinal excitability.
We studied the changes in excitability of the corticospinal projection evoked by self-induced sad and happy thoughts. Corticospinal excitability was probed using focal, single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) applied to the optimal scalp position for evoking motor potentials in the contralateral first dorsal interosseus muscle. Fourteen right-handed subjects were studied while counting mentally, thinking sad thoughts, or thinking happy thoughts. In each of these three conditions TMS was applied in each subject randomly, 20 times to the right and 20 times to the left hemisphere. Sad thoughts resulted in a significant facilitation of the motor potentials evoked by left-hemispheri…
Lateralized effect of rapid-rate transcranial magnetic stimulation of the prefrontal cortex on mood.
We studied the effects of rapid-rate transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of different scalp positions on mood Ten normal volunteers rated themselves before and after rTMS on five analog scales labeled ``Tristeza99 (Sadness), ``Ansiedad99 (Anxiety), ``Alegria99 (Happiness), ``Cansancio99 (Tiredness), and ``Dolor/Malestar99 (Pain/Discomfort). rTMS was applied to the right lateral prefrontal, left prefrontal, or midline frontal cortex in trains of 5 seconds9 duration at 10 Hz and 110% of the subject9s motor threshold intensity. Each stimulation position received 10 trains separated by a 25-second pause. No clinically apparent mood changes were evoked by rTMS to any of the scalp positions …