title: Patch-clamp recordings of rat neurons from acute brain slices of the somatosensory cortex during magnetic stimulation.
abstract: Although transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a popular tool for both basic research and clinical applications, its actions on nerve cells are only partially understood. We have previously predicted, using compartmental modeling, that magnetic stimulation of central nervous system neurons depolarized the soma followed by initiation of an action potential in the initial segment of the axon. The simulations also predict that neurons with low current threshold are more susceptible to magnetic stimulation. Here we tested these theoretical predictions by combining in vitro patch-clamp recordings from rat brain slices with magnetic stimulation and compartmental modeling. In agreement with the modeling, our recordings demonstrate the dependence of magnetic stimulation-triggered action potentials on the type and state of the neuron and its orientation within the magnetic field. Our results suggest that the observed effects of TMS are deeply rooted in the biophysical properties of single neurons in the central nervous system and provide a framework both for interpreting existing TMS data and developing new simulation-based tools and therapies.
authors.affiliation: The Leslie and Susan Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University Ramat-Gan, Israel.
authors.forename: Tamar
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pashut
authors.affiliation: The Leslie and Susan Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University Ramat-Gan, Israel.
authors.forename: Dafna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Magidov
authors.affiliation: The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University Ramat-Gan, Israel.
authors.forename: Hana
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ben-Porat
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Bar-Ilan University Ramat-Gan, Israel.
authors.forename: Shuki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wolfus
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Bar-Ilan University Ramat-Gan, Israel.
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Friedman
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Bar-Ilan University Ramat-Gan, Israel.
authors.forename: Eli
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Perel
authors.affiliation: The Leslie and Susan Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University Ramat-Gan, Israel ; Department of Psychology, Bar-Ilan University Ramat-Gan, Israel.
authors.forename: Michal
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lavidor
authors.affiliation: The Leslie and Susan Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University Ramat-Gan, Israel.
authors.forename: Izhar
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bar-Gad
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Bar-Ilan University Ramat-Gan, Israel.
authors.forename: Yosef
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yeshurun
authors.affiliation: The Leslie and Susan Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University Ramat-Gan, Israel ; The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University Ramat-Gan, Israel.
authors.forename: Alon
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Korngreen
keywords: action potential; cortex; magnetic stimulation; patch-clamp