title: Occipital long-interval paired pulse TMS leads to slow wave components in NREM sleep.
abstract: Neural correlates of conscious vs unconscious states can be studied by contrasting EEG markers of brain activity between those two states. Here, a task-free experimental setup was used to study the state dependent effects of occipital transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). EEG responses to single and paired pulse TMS with an inter-stimulus-interval (ISI) of 100 ms were investigated under Non-REM (NREM) sleep and wakefulness. In the paired pulse TMS condition adopting this long ISI, a robust positive deflection starting around 200 ms after the second pulse was found. This component was not obtained under wakefulness or when a single TMS pulse was applied in sleep. These findings are discussed in the context of NREM sleep slow waves. The present results indicate that the long interval paired-pulse paradigm could be used to manipulate plasticity processes in the visual cortex. The present setup might also become useful for evaluating states of consciousness.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Public Law, University of Tartu (Tallinn Branch), Kaarli puiestee 3, Tallinn 10119, Estonia.
authors.forename: Mihkel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stamm
authors.affiliation: Institute of Public Law, University of Tartu (Tallinn Branch), Kaarli puiestee 3, Tallinn 10119, Estonia; Institute of Computer Science, University of Tartu, Estonia.
authors.forename: Jaan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Aru
authors.affiliation: Institute of Public Law, University of Tartu (Tallinn Branch), Kaarli puiestee 3, Tallinn 10119, Estonia.
authors.forename: Renate
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rutiku
authors.affiliation: Institute of Public Law, University of Tartu (Tallinn Branch), Kaarli puiestee 3, Tallinn 10119, Estonia. Electronic address: talis.bachmann@ut.ee.
authors.forename: Talis
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bachmann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D058256:Brain Waves; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity; D009778:Occipital Lobe; D012894:Sleep Stages; D050781:Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation; D014851:Wakefulness; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Consciousness; EEG; LICI; Paired-pulse TMS; Plasticity; Sleep; Slow waves; TMS