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    Neuroreport. 2000 May 15;11(7):1565-9.

    Plasticity revealed by transcranial magnetic stimulation of early visual cortex.

    Source

    Department of Experimental Psychology, Oxford, UK.

    Abstract

    We applied single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to the occipital pole of healthy subjects while they performed a forced-choice visual letter-identification task. We found three separate periods when TMS suppressed performance; the first period is best explained by TMS-induced blinking whereas the last two periods are best explained by TMS-induced disruption of letter-processing in the early visual cortex. Unexpectedly, we also found that TMS-induced suppression progressively disappeared during three weeks of repeated TMS experiments. However, it was only suppression during the last two periods that disappeared; suppression during the first period remained undiminished. When subjects were then presented with dimmer letters, suppression reappeared. The most likely explanation is a practice-induced increase in neuronal activity in the early visual cortex.

    PMID:
    10841378
    [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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