title: Accurate and rapid estimation of phosphene thresholds (REPT).
abstract: To calibrate the intensity of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) at the occipital pole, the phosphene threshold is used as a measure of cortical excitability. The phosphene threshold (PT) refers to the intensity of magnetic stimulation that induces illusory flashes of light (phosphenes) on a proportion of trials. The existing PT estimation procedures lack the accuracy and mathematical rigour of modern threshold estimation methods. We present an improved and automatic procedure for estimating the PT which is based on the well-established Ψ Bayesian adaptive staircase approach. To validate the new procedure, we compared it with another commonly used procedure for estimating the PT. We found that our procedure is more accurate, reliable, and rapid when compared with an existing PT measurement procedure. The new procedure is implemented in Matlab and works automatically with the Magstim Rapid(2) stimulator using a convenient graphical user interface. The Matlab program is freely available for download.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. arman.abrahamyan@sydney.edu.au
authors.forename: Arman
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abrahamyan
authors.forename: Colin W G
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Clifford
authors.forename: Manuela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ruzzoli
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.forename: Ehsan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Arabzadeh
authors.forename: Justin A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Harris
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000465:Algorithms; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D002138:Calibration; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009778:Occipital Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D010719:Phosphenes; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012684:Sensory Thresholds / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D050781:Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation; D055815:Young Adult