TITLE
Ten Years of Theta Burst Stimulation in Humans: Established Knowledge, Unknowns and Prospects

AUTHORS
Suppa A; Huang YZ; Funke K; Ridding MC; Cheeran B; Di Lazzaro V; Ziemann U; Rothwell JC. Institution Suppa, A. Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy; Neuromed Institute, IRCCS Pozzilli (IS), Rome, Italy. Huang, Y-Z. Department of Neurology, Neuroscience Research Center, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Taoyuan, Taiwan. Funke, K. Department of Neurophysiology, Medical Faculty, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany. Ridding, M C. The Robinson Research Institute, School of Medicine, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia. Cheeran, B. Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK. Di Lazzaro, V. Institute of Neurology, Campus Biomedico University, Rome, Italy; Fondazione Alberto Sordi – Research Institute for Ageing, Rome, Italy. Ziemann, U. Department of Neurology & Stroke, Hertie-Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of Tubingen, Tubingen, Germany. Rothwell, J C. Sobell Department of Motor Neuroscience and Movement Disorders, Institute of Neurology, University College London, Queen Square, London, UK.

ELECTRONIC ADDRESS
antonio.suppa@uniroma1.it

SOURCE
Brain Stimulation. 9(3):323-335, 2016 May-Jun.

BACKGROUND / OBJECTIVES
Over the last ten years, an increasing number of authors have used the theta burst stimulation (TBS) protocol to investigate long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD)-like plasticity non-invasively in the primary motor cortex (M1) in healthy humans and in patients with various types of movement disorders. We here provide a comprehensive review of the LTP/LTD-like plasticity induced by TBS in the human M1. METHODS A workgroup of researchers expert in this research field review and discuss critically ten years of experimental evidence from TBS studies in humans and in animal models. The review also includes the discussion of studies assessing responses to TBS in patients with movement disorders.

MAIN FINDINGS / DISCUSSION
We discuss experimental studies applying TBS over the M1 or in other cortical regions functionally connected to M1 in healthy subjects and in patients with various types of movement disorders. We also review experimental evidence coming from TBS studies in animals. Finally, we clarify the status of TBS as a possible new non-invasive therapy aimed at improving symptoms in various neurological disorders. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.