The effect of one left-sided dorsolateral prefrontal cortical HF-rTMS session on emotional brain processes in women

Psychiatr Danub. 2010 Nov:22 Suppl 1:S163.

Abstract

Although repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) is frequently used to examine emotional changes in healthy volunteers, it remains largely unknown how rTMS is able to influence emotion.We carried out a sham-controlled single-blind crossover study using fMRI, we examined in 20 right-handed healthy female volunteers whether a single high frequency (HF)-rTMS session applied to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) could influence emotional processing while focussing on blocks of positively and negatively valenced baby faces. A single HF-rTMS session selectively influenced the processing of positively and negatively valenced baby faces. In essence, our results indicate that the effects of one left-sided HF-rTMS sessions results in improved processing of positive emotions and reduced negative emotional processing in never depressed female subjects.

MeSH terms

  • Attention / physiology
  • Cerebral Cortex / physiology
  • Cross-Over Studies
  • Dominance, Cerebral / physiology*
  • Emotions / physiology*
  • Facial Expression*
  • Female
  • Frontal Lobe / physiology
  • Humans
  • Parietal Lobe / physiology
  • Pattern Recognition, Visual / physiology*
  • Prefrontal Cortex / physiology*
  • Single-Blind Method
  • Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation*