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The British Journal of Psychiatry (2000) 176: 400
© 2000 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

Motor responses to transcranial magnetic stimulation in schizophrenia

N. J. Davey

Division of Neuroscience & Psychological Medicine, Imperial College School of Medicine, Charing Cross Hospital, Fulham Palace Road, London W6 8RF

B. K. Puri

MRI Unit, MRC Clinical Sciences Centre, Imperial College School of Medicine, Hammersmith Hospital, London W12 0HS

EDITED BY LOUISE HOWARD

We read with interest the paper by Boroojerdi et al (1999). Our group found a shorter latency for motor evoked potentials (MEPs) to transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in unmedicated people with schizophrenia of, on average, 2 ms compared with age- and gender-matched normal subjects (Puri et al, 1996). In contrast, Boroojerdi et al (1999) reported no such latency difference (in their group of medicated patients) and speculated that the presence of antipsychotic medication may have confounded their results. Indeed, our group has previously reported the effects of such medication on the latency and form of the inhibitory silent periods to TMS (Davey et al, 1997), which is known to occur as a result of activating superficial intracortical inhibitory interneurons, possibly GABAergic (Davey et al, 1994). Boroojerdi et al (1999) found a longer latency of transcallosal inhibition to TMS in a group of medicated patients with schizophrenia but did not include a group of drug-naïve patients. It is clearly important to be able to differentiate between pathophysiological mechanisms resulting from schizophrenia and the actions of antipsychotic medication on the corticospinal system.

REFERENCES

  1. Boroojerdi, B., Töpper, R., Foltys, H., et al (1999) Transcallosal inhibition and motor conduction studies in patients with schizophrenia using transcranial magnetic stimulation. British Journal of Psychiatry, 175, 375-379.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  2. Davey, N. J., Romaiguère, P., Maskill, D. W., et al (1994) Suppression of voluntary motor activity revealed using transcranial magnetic stimulation of the motor cortex in man. Journal of Physiology, 477, 223-235.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  3. Davey, N. J., Puri, B. K., Lewis, H. S., et al (1997) The effects of antipsychotic medication on electromyographic responses to transcranial magnetic stimulation of the motor cortex in schizophrenia. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 63, 468-473.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  4. Puri, B. K., Davey, N. J., Ellaway, P. H., et al (1996) An investigation of motor function in schizophrenia using transcranial magnetic stimulation of the motor cortex. British Journal of Psychiatry, 169, 690-695.[Abstract/Free Full Text]



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