Transcranial magnetic stimulation to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex modulates single-neuron activity in humans.

Single-pulse TMS to the left dlPFC elicited time-locked firing in 46% of 185 recorded human neurons, with 26% facilitated and 19% suppressed.

• Why it matters: Although dlPFC TMS treats depression, how it changes single-neuron activity in deep mood-regulating circuits is not well defined.
• What they did: In four neurosurgical patients, intracranial microelectrodes recorded 185 single neurons during TMS; artifact cleaning resolved spikes as early as 8 ms after stimulation.
• The result: Responsive neurons showed distinct timing: putative inhibitory striato-thalamic cells were facilitated from ~8 ms peaking at ~80–100 ms and decaying to ~600 ms, while putative excitatory and limbic areas were suppressed up to ~1,000 ms.

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