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Transcranial magnetic stimulation and cognitive neuroscience

Abstract

Transcranial magnetic stimulation has been used to investigate almost all areas of cognitive neuroscience. This article discusses the most important (and least understood) considerations regarding the use of transcranial magnetic stimulation for cognitive neuroscience and outlines advances in the use of this technique for the replication and extension of findings from neuropsychology. We also take a more speculative look forward to the emerging development of strategies for combining transcranial magnetic stimulation with other brain imaging technologies and methods in the cognitive neurosciences.

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Figure 1: Defining the problem space of TMS.
Figure 2: TMS and the brain.
Figure 3: Subtractive lesion analysis applied to TMS.
Figure 4: Spatial and functional specificity of TMS.
Figure 5: Temporal relationship between transcranial magnetic stimulation and behaviour.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are pleased to acknowledge the support of The Royal Society, The Medical Research Council and the Dr Hadwen Research Trust.

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Walsh, V., Cowey, A. Transcranial magnetic stimulation and cognitive neuroscience. Nat Rev Neurosci 1, 73–80 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35036239

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