Microglia - a potential target for rTMS-based interventions (Eichler et al., J Neurosci 2023)

Описание: Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, or rTMS, is a non-invasive brain stimulation technique that has gained popularity in neuroscience and clinical practice.

In rTMS, a magnetic coil is placed over the scalp and delivers repeated magnetic pulses to specific brain regions. These magnetic pulses induce electric fields in the brain, which modulate the activity of neurons.

In clinical practice, rTMS is used to treat various neurological and psychiatric conditions, such as depression, anxiety, and chronic pain.

The exact mechanisms underlying the effects of rTMS are still being studied, but it is believed to involve changes in neurotransmitter release and neural plasticity.

In the search to learn more about the effects of rTMS, we studied the role of microglia in synaptic plasticity induced by 10 Hz rTMS.

Microglia, the resident immune cells of the central nervous system, play a critical role in regulating brain function. They are implicated in brain diseases associated with changes in neural excitability and plasticity.

We cultured brain tissue in a dish and found that 10 Hz electromagnetic stimulation triggered the release of plasticity-promoting cytokines from microglia.

The release of cytokines from microglia was not observed when neurons were silenced during stimulation with TTX. When microglia were removed from the brain tissue 10 Hz rTMS did not induce synaptic plasticity and the substitution of cytokines rescued the neurons’ ability to express plasticity in absence of microglia.

These findings highlight the important role of microglia and plasticity-promoting cytokines in rTMS-induced synaptic plasticity.

They suggest that microglia could be a potential target for rTMS-based interventions.

Original article:
https://www.jneurosci.org/content/43/...

Further reading:
https://www.degruyter.com/document/do...
https://www.degruyter.com/document/do...

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