Transcranial Brain Stimulation

"Recent years have seen the emergence of exciting new techniques for the understanding of the human brain. An important contribution has come from the introduction of non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS). NIBS techniques include transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial electrical stimulation (tES). Since the discovery of TMS and tES, these techniques have been used to investigate the state of cortical excitability, the excitability of the cortico-cortical and corticospinal pathways, the role of a given brain region in a particular cognitive function and the timing of its activity as well as the pathophysiology of various disorders. TMS and tES are also relevant to clinical neuroscience as a means to improve plasticity and therefore deficits of several functions in individuals with neurological or psychiatric complaints. This book reviews recent advances made in the field of brain stimulation techniques. Moreover NIBS techniques exert their effects on neuronal state through different mechanisms at cellular and functional level. These mechanisms are discussed and recent results are reported"--Provided by publisher.

Carlo Miniussi is an Associate Professor of Human Physiology at the Department of Biomedical Sciences and Biotechnologies, School of Medicine, University of Brescia, Italy.

Walter Paulus is a Professor of Clinical Neurophysiology and Head of the Department of Clinical Neurophysiology at Georg-August University in Gottingen, Germany.

Paolo M. Rossini is a Professor of Clinical Neurology at the University of Campus Biomedico in Rome, Italy.