Exploring the Underlying Mechanisms of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation with Dr. Joshua Brown

The Brainbox Initiative is joined by Young Investigator Award winner 2023, Dr. Joshua Brown for a webinar exploring the underlying mechanisms of TMS.

Speaker
Dr. Joshua Brown serves as the Director of the Brain Stimulation Mechanisms Laboratory and holds key positions at McLean Hospital of Harvard Medical School, including Director of Research and Medical Director of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS).

Webinar abstract
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) now has widespread clinical utility far outpacing an understanding of how it modulates the brain – limiting optimization. Behavioral and network effects are subserved by cellular changes, most prominently at the synapse. ‘Excitatory’ TMS is purported to work through a form of synaptic plasticity called long-term potentiation (LTP), a process which depends on NMDA receptors. TMS effects on the human motor system can be blocked by NMDA receptor antagonists and enhanced by NMDA receptor agonists – a pharmacologic augmentation approach successfully applied in a clinical trial for depression. The aim of this webinar is to evaluate the data regarding LTP and competing hypotheses as the mechanism of action for TMS.