Modulating Brain Networks With Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Over the Primary Motor Cortex: A Concurrent TMS/fMRI Study

Stimulating the primary motor cortex (M1) using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) causes unique multisensory experience such as the targeted muscle activity, afferent/reafferent sensory feedback, tactile sensation over the scalp and “click” sound. Although the human M1 has been intensively investigated using TMS, the experience of the M1 stimulation has not been elucidated at the whole brain. Here, using concurrent TMS/fMRI, we investigated the acute effect of the M1 stimulation of functional brain networks during task and at rest. A short train of 1 Hz TMS pulses applied to individuals’ hand area in the M1 during motor execution or at rest. Employing the independent component analysis (ICA), we showed the M1 stimulation decreased the motor networks activity when the networks were engaged in the task and increased the deactivation of networks when the networks were not involved in the ongoing task. The M1 stimulation induced the activation in the key networks involved in bodily self-consciousness (BSC) including the insular and rolandic operculum systems regardless of states. The degree of activation in these networks was prominent at rest compared to task conditions, showing the state-dependent TMS effect. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the M1 stimulation modulated other domain-general networks such as the default mode network (DMN) and attention network and the inter-network connectivity between these networks. Our results showed that the M1 stimulation induced the widespread changes in the brain at the targeted system as well as non-motor, remote brain networks, specifically related to the BSC. Our findings shed light on understanding the neural mechanism of the complex and multisensory experience of the M1 stimulation.