title: Paired-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation: effects of hemispheric laterality, gender, and handedness in normal controls.
abstract: This investigation analyzed retrospective normative data from paired-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (PP TMS) studies to assess the effects of hemispheric laterality, gender, and handedness on cortical excitability. There were no significant differences between left and right hemisphere responses in either men or women. Likewise, there was no significant difference in findings between men and women, considering each hemisphere separately. There were no significant differences between right-handed individuals and nonright-handed individuals for left or right hemispheric responses in either men or women or for both genders combined. Nevertheless, large intersubject variance and past evidence of cortical excitability modulation by other factors, such as menstrual cycle phase and reproductive hormonal changes in women, suggest a need for further investigations into other potential factors that may contribute to the large variance among healthy individuals.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Magnetic Brain Stimulation, Behavioral Neurology, Neurology Department, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA. aherzog@bidmc.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Seth D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Cahn
authors.forename: Andrew G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Herzog
authors.forename: Alvaro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pascual-Leone
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology* / Q000528:radiation effects; D004558:Electric Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009433:Neural Inhibition / Q000502:physiology* / Q000528:radiation effects; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D050781:Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation