BRAIN STIMULATION: Basic, Translational, and Clinical Research in Neuromodulation
Volume 1, Issue 4 , Pages 363-369, October 2008

Consensus: Can transcranial direct current stimulation and transcranial magnetic stimulation enhance motor learning and memory formation?

  • Janine Reis, MD

      Affiliations

    • Human Cortical Physiology Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
    • ,
  • Edwin M. Robertson, MD, D. Phil

      Affiliations

    • Berenson-Allen Center for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
    • ,
  • John W. Krakauer, MD

      Affiliations

    • Motor Performance Laboratory, Dept. of Neurology, Columbia University, New York, New York
    • ,
  • John Rothwell, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, United Kingdom
    • ,
  • Lisa Marshall, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Neurology and Clinical Neuroendocrinology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
    • ,
  • Christian Gerloff, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Neurology, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
    • ,
  • Eric M. Wassermann, MD

      Affiliations

    • Brain Stimulation Unit, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
    • ,
  • Alvaro Pascual-Leone, MD, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Berenson-Allen Center for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
    • ,
  • Friedhelm Hummel, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Neurology, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
    • ,
  • Pablo A. Celnik, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
    • ,
  • Joseph Classen, MD

      Affiliations

    • Human Cortical Physiology and Motor Control Laboratory, Department of Neurology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
    • ,
  • Agnes Floel, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Neurology, University of Münster and IZKF Münster, Münster, Germany
    • ,
  • Ulf Ziemann, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Neurology, Goethe-University of Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
    • ,
  • Walter Paulus, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, University of Goettingen, Goettingen, Germany
    • ,
  • Hartwig R. Siebner, MD, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Brain mapping laboratory, Department of Neurology, Christian-Albrechts University, Kiel, Germany
    • ,
  • Jan Born, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Neurology and Clinical Neuroendocrinology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
    • ,
  • Leonardo G. Cohen, MD

      Affiliations

    • Human Cortical Physiology Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorrespondence: Leonardo G. Cohen, Human Cortical Physiology Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health 10 Center Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892-1430.

Received 5 June 2008; received in revised form 29 July 2008; accepted 2 August 2008. published online 06 October 2008.

Noninvasive brain stimulation has developed as a promising tool for cognitive neuroscientists. Transcranial magnetic (TMS) and direct current (tDCS) stimulation allow researchers to purposefully enhance or decrease excitability in focal areas of the brain. The purpose of this article is to review information on the use of TMS and tDCS as research tools to facilitate motor memory formation, motor performance, and motor learning in healthy volunteers. Studies implemented so far have mostly focused on the ability of TMS and tDCS to elicit relatively short-lasting motor improvements and the mechanisms underlying these changes have been only partially investigated. Despite limitations, including the scarcity of data, work that has been already accomplished raises the exciting hypothesis that currently available noninvasive transcranial stimulation techniques could modulate motor learning and memory formation in healthy humans and potentially in patients with neurologic and psychiatric disorders.

Keywords: transcranial magnetic stimulation, transcranial direct current stimulation, stroke, learning, motor

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 Funding provided by the National Institutes of Health.

PII: S1935-861X(08)00325-2

doi:10.1016/j.brs.2008.08.001

BRAIN STIMULATION: Basic, Translational, and Clinical Research in Neuromodulation
Volume 1, Issue 4 , Pages 363-369, October 2008

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