A model of magnetic stimulation of neocortical neurons

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has been widely used in studies of human motor and cognitive functions as well as in clinical treatment. Biophysical mechanism underlying its e!ect is, however, largely unknown. Here, we develop a theory to calculate the e!ect of magnetic stimulation on arbitrary neuronal structure. Then, we employ a computer simulation which combines a realistic multicompartmental model of neocortical neurons and the calculation of the induced electric "eld. The simulation shows that a single magnetic pulse applied to model cortical neurons can induce brief burst "ring followed by a silent period of duration comparable to experimental data of TMS. Our simulation o!ers a new clue to understand physiology of TMS by demonstrating that magnetic stimulation acts on biophysics of the dendrites in neocortical neurons. 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.