The neural response to transcranial magnetic stimulation of the human motor cortex. I. Intracortical and cortico-cortical contributions

We investigated the properties of the neural response to transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) applied over the human primary motor cortex. Consistent with our previous findings, single pulses of TMS induce a characteristic negative deflection at 45 ms (N45) and a transient oscillation in the beta frequency-range (15–30 Hz), as measured using electroencephalograpy (EEG). Here we show the relative specificity of the beta oscillation and the N45; both are stronger when elicited by stimulation applied over the primary motor cortex, as compared with stimulation over the dorsal premotor cortex. We also provide a quantitative analysis of the beta responses to single pulses of TMS and show that the responses are highly phaselocked to the TMS pulses within single subjects; this phaselocking is similar from subject to subject. A single pulse of TMS applied over the primary motor cortex thus appears to reset the ongoing oscillations of the neurons, bringing them transiently into synchrony. Finally, we examine the effect of local or distal modulation of the excitability of the primary motor cortex on the beta oscillation and the N45 in response to single-pulse TMS. We applied low-frequency subthreshold repetitive TMS either over the primary motor cortex (local modulation) or, on a separate day, over the dorsal premotor cortex (distal modulation). The modulation was evaluated with single suprathreshold test pulses of TMS applied over the primary motor cortex before and after the subthreshold low-frequency rTMS. We recorded the EEG response throughout the testing session, i.e. to both the subthreshold and the suprathreshold pulses. After repetitive TMS applied over the primary motor cortex, but not the dorsal premotor cortex, the amplitude of the N45 in response to suprathreshold pulses tended to decrease (not significant), and subsequently increased (significant); neither type of repetitive TMS affected the amplitude of the beta oscillation. We conclude that (1) the N45 depends on circuits intrinsic to the primary motor cortex; (2) the beta oscillation is specific to stimulation of the primary motor cortex, but is not affected by modulation of either cortical area and; (3) the beta oscillatory response to pulses of TMS arises from resetting of ongoing oscillations rather than their induction.