Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Feb 25;32(7):723-736.
doi: 10.1515/revneuro-2020-0140. Print 2021 Nov 25.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and repetitive TMS in multiple sclerosis

Athina-Maria Aloizou  1 , Georgia Pateraki  1 , Konstantinos Anargyros  1 , Vasileios Siokas  1 , Christos Bakirtzis  2 , Ioannis Liampas  1 , Anastasia Nousia  3 , Grigorios Nasios  3 , Markos Sgantzos  1 , Eleni Peristeri  1 , Efthimios Dardiotis  1
Affiliations
Review

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and repetitive TMS in multiple sclerosis

Athina-Maria Aloizou et al. Rev Neurosci. .

Abstract

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most well-known autoimmune disorder of the central nervous system, and constitutes a major cause of disability, especially in young individuals. A wide array of pharmacological treatments is available, but they have often been proven to be ineffective in ameliorating disease symptomatology or slowing disease progress. As such, non-invasive and non-pharmacological techniques have been gaining more ground. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) utilizes the electric field generated by a magnetic coil to stimulate neurons and has been applied, usually paired with electroencephalography, to study the underlying pathophysiology of MS, and in repetitive trains, in the form of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), to induce long-lasting changes in neuronal circuits. In this review, we present the available literature on the application of TMS and rTMS in the context of MS, with an emphasis on its therapeutic potential on various clinical aspects, while also naming the ongoing trials, whose results are anticipated in the future.

Keywords: MS; TMS; magnetic stimulation; multiple sclerosis; rTMS.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Agüera, E., Caballero-Villarraso, J., Feijóo, M., Escribano, B.M., Bahamonde, M.C., et al.. (2020a). Impact of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on neurocognition and oxidative stress in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: a case report. Front. Neurol. 11: 817.
    1. Agüera, E., Caballero-Villarraso, J., Feijóo, M., Escribano, B.M., Conde, C., et al.. (2020b). Clinical and neurochemical effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in multiple sclerosis: a study protocol for a randomized clinical trial. Front. Neurol. 11: 750.
    1. Amatya, B., Khan, F., La Mantia, L., Demetrios, M., and Wade, D.T. (2013). Non pharmacological interventions for spasticity in multiple sclerosis. Cochrane Database Syst. Rev., CD009974, https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD009974.pub2.
    1. Andravizou, A., Dardiotis, E., Artemiadis, A., Sokratous, M., Siokas, V., et al.. (2019). Brain atrophy in multiple sclerosis: mechanisms, clinical relevance and treatment options. Auto Immun. Highlights. 10: 7.
    1. Andravizou, A., Siokas, V., Artemiadis, A., Bakirtzis, C., Aloizou, A.M., et al.. (2020). Clinically reliable cognitive decline in relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis: is it the tip of the iceberg? Neurol. Res. 42: 575–586.

LinkOut - more resources