Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation to the Unilateral Hemisphere of Rat Brain.
Previous rodent models of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) adopted whole-brain stimulation instead of unilateral hemispheric rTMS, which is unlike the protocols used for human subjects. We report a successful application of rTMS to the unilateral hemisphere of rat brain. The rTMS was delivered with a low-frequency (1 Hz), high-frequency (20 Hz), or sham stimulation protocol to one side of the brain by using a small 25-mm figure-8 coil. We placed the center of the coil 1 cm lateral to the vertex on the biauricular line and angulated the coil 45° to the ground to minimize a potential direct effect of rTMS on the contralateral cortex. We also used an in-house water cooling system to enable repetitive magnetic stimulation for more than 20 min, even at a 20-Hz stimulation frequency. Increases in the transcriptions of immediate early genes (Arc, Junb, and Egr2) were greater after rTMS than after sham stimulation. After 5 consecutive days of 20-min 1-Hz rTMS, bdnf mRNA expression was significantly higher in stimulated cortex than in contralateral side. The model presented herein will elucidate the molecular mechanisms of rTMS by allowing analysis of the inter-hemispheric difference in its effect.
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Chungnam National University Hospital, Daejeon; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Seoul National University College of Medicine.
Jaewon
J
Beom
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Seoul National University College of Medicine; Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, Medical Research Center, Seoul National University; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Seoul National University Hospital.
Jung Chan
JC
Lee
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine.
Jin Chul
JC
Paeng
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Gangwon Do Rehabilitation Hospital.
Tai Ryoon
TR
Han
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine.
Moon Suk
MS
Bang
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine; keepwiz@gmail.com.
Byung-Mo
BM
Oh
D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain; D002540:Cerebral Cortex; D006801:Humans; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D051381:Rats; D050781:Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation / Q000379:methods*
D012333:RNA, Messenger