Plasticity in the Human Nervous System: Investigations with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

It is now well known that the functional organisation of the cerebral cortex is plastic and that changes in organisation occur throughout life in response to normal and abnormal experience. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive and painless technique that has opened up completely new and fascinating avenues to study neural plasticity. First, TMS can be used to detect changes in excitability or connectivity of the stimulated cortex which may have occurred through processes such as learning or recovery from a lesion. Second, repeated TMS by itself can induce changes in excitability and connectivity of the stimulated cortex which may be used therapeutically in neurological and psychiatric disease. Third, TMS can induce short-lasting 'virtual lesions', which may directly test the functional relevance of brain plasticity. Current knowledge of all these exciting possibilities is brought together in this book, written by the world's leading experts in the field. The book is an essential compendium on plasticity of the human brain for clinical neurophysiologists, neurologists, psychiatrists and neuroscientists.

Table of Contents:
1. The nature and mechanisms of plasticity M. Rioult-Pedotti and J. P. Donoghue; 2. Techniques of transcranial magnetic stimulation J. C. Rothwell; 3. Developmental plasticity of the corticospinal system J. Eyre; 4. Practice induced plasticity in the human motor cortex J. Classen and L. G. Cohen; 5. Skill learning E. Robertson, H. Theoret and A. Pascual-Leone; 6. Stimulation induced plasticity in the human motor cortex J. Classen and U. Ziemann; 7. Lesions of cortex and post-stroke reorganisation P. M. Rossini and J. Liepert; 8. Lesions of the periphery and the spinal cord M. Angel, N. Davey, P. Ellaway and R. Chen; 9. Functional relevance of cortical plasticity P. Celnik and L. G. Cohen; 10. Therapeutic uses of rTMS C. Epstein and J. Rothwell; 11. Rehabilitation D. Gow, C. Fraser and S. Hamdy; 12. New questions M. Hallett, E. M. Wassermann and L. G. Cohen.

About the Author :
Simon Boniface is Consultant Neurophysiologist and Director of Neurophysiology, Addenbrooke's Hospital and The Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre, Cambridge. Ulf Ziemann is Assistant Professor of Neurology, Clinic of Neurology, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University of Frankfurt.

Review :
"This text is concise and well-organized...investigators and clinicians interested in motor system plasticity or TMS will find this book to be a valuable addition to their library." William J. Triggs, Neurology