Transcranial magnetic stimulation to understand pathophysiology and as potential treatment for neurodegenerative diseases

Table 2 Therapeutic repetitive TMS protocols for neurodegenerative diseases

	Protocol^a	Target	Potential beneficial effects
Parkinson’s disease	Facilitatory	M1, SMA, PMd	Improve motor symptoms^b, mood^c
	Inhibitory	M1, cerebellum	Improve levodopa induced dyskinesia
Alzheimer’s disease	Facilitatory	DLPFC	Improve memory, cognition
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis	Inhibitory	M1	Improve motor symptoms
Huntington’s disease	Inhibitory	SMA, M1	Improve chorea

Abbreviations: DLPFC dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, M1 primary motor cortex, PMd dorsal premotor cortex, SMA supplementary motor area
Notes:
^aFacilitatory protocols include high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and intermittent theta burst stimulation; inhibitory protocols include low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and continuous theta burst stimulation
^bFacilitatory protocols with different stimulus parameters applied to M1, SMA and PMd may improve motor symptoms in PD
^cA study of eight sessions of intermittent theta burst stimulation of M1 over two weeks reported benefits in mood in PD