The ability to measure cortical inhibition rests on the ability of TMS to stimulate cortical inhibitory and excitatory interneurons in addition to corticospinal output neurons.
+10,+11 At low intensities, intracortical inhibitory and excitatory neurons are stimulated without any change in the excitability of corticospinal output neurons. The paradigms that demonstrate cortical inhibition include paired-pulse TMS (ppTMS),
+2,+12 cortical silent period TMS (CSP),
+13,+14 and transcallosal inhibition (TCI).
+15 Paired-pulse TMS involves a subthreshold conditioning pulse followed by a suprathreshold test pulse. A high-intensity suprathreshold magnetic pulse activates cortical pyramidal neurons directly and indirectly, via excitatory interneurons, leading to corticospinal output that can be measured peripherally as a motor evoked potential (MEP) following stimulation of the motor cortex. In contrast, a low-intensity subthreshold pulse only excites cortical interneurons and, therefore, does not result in an MEP. By combining a subthreshold pulse with a suprathreshold pulse, one can assess the inhibitory effects of interneurons on cortical output.
+2,+16 That is, when a subthreshold pulse precedes the test pulse by 1 to 5 ms, inhibitory interneurons are recruited and the MEP response is inhibited by 50% to 90%
+2 (
+Figure 2). Evidence for ppTMS inhibition originating in the cortex includes the reduction of descending corticospinal waves.
+17,+18 In addition, anodal transcranial electrical stimulation (TES), which directly activates corticospinal axons,
+10,+19 is not inhibited by a TMS conditioning pulse.
+2 CSP experiments involve motor cortical stimulation superimposed on background electromyographic activity. At high stimulus intensities a cessation of all electromyographic activity occurs, producing a silent period (
+Figure 3). The first half of the silent period is in part due to spinal inhibition,
+20 but the second half (>50 ms) is due to reduced cortical excitability.
+13,+17,+20,+21 In TCI, stimulation of the ipsilateral motor cortex a few milliseconds prior to stimulation of the contralateral motor cortex inhibits the size of the motor evoked potential produced by contralateral motor cortical stimulation. It has been demonstrated that in normal control subjects ipsilateral cortical stimulation 6 to 15 ms prior to contralateral cortical stimulation inhibits the size of the MEP produced in hand muscles by 50% to 75%
+15 (
+Figure 4). Ferbert et al.
+15 have provided evidence that TCI represents a cortical inhibitory phenomenon by demonstrating that there was a clear inhibition of MEPs by magnetic test stimuli, whereas test responses, evoked by small anodal electrical shock that stimulates corticospinal axons, were not significantly inhibited by a contralateral magnetic conditioning stimulus.