Optical Imaging Group publishes in PNAS – see RUB Webpages for press release

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) holds promise as a tool for non-invasively facilitating plastic changes in cortical networks. However, highly resolved visualization of its modulatory effects remains elusive, because current neuroimaging techniques applicable in humans are limited in spatio-temporal resolution. Here we applied optical imaging using voltage-sensitive dye in an animal model and tracked, at submillimeter range, TMS-induced plastic changes across primary visual cortex. We show that high-frequency 10 Hz TMS induces a state where cortical maps are transiently “destabilized”. In turn, neurons were sensitized to a bias in input — here imposed by prolonged exposure to a single visual orientation — and primed to relearn connectivity patterns. These findings implicate an early post-TMS time window for promising therapeutic interventions through TMS.