Re: [DIYbio] Re: transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) circuit model

Yeah, for tDCS there's a fraction of strong skeptics. Moderating key words there are "reliable" and "beyond MEP", though.

The motor evoked potential (MEP) is the most robust, simple and direct neurophysiological metric that we have available to measure this sort of thing, so it would be expected be the most reliable tool for showing a real-but-variable effect of a neurostimulation method; and since all neocortex operates along slight variations of the same general mechanism, knowing that the MEP is affected carries generalizable weight. Other neurophysiological measurements generally have more intermediate steps for variation to occur at than the MEP does.

"Reliable" is also an important one, since tons of effects have been shown on other metrics, and the primary complaints as I've heard them (I haven't read that particular paper) are that the effects are too spatially diffuse (and correspondingly unpredictable) and show too much individual variations to make reliable predictions for them on the scale typical, manageable samples. That's all definitely important, but it's still some distance removed from 'snake oil', to place it in the context of the current discussion.



On Wednesday, August 3, 2016 at 8:22:48 PM UTC+2, Jonathan Cline wrote:
>Key solutions, respectively..
>
>0.  prerequisite, otherwise do not continue
>1.  get rid of lawyers + managers, then cost optimize various designs,
>verified against a valid circuit model
>2.  modernize + miniaturize the design
>3.  RTFM

Agreed, wholeheartedly! M'not saying that people not DIYing TMS is as it should be, merely observing it as it is. From what I know about it (I haven't worked with it personally), it shouldn't be too much more difficult than tDCS, if you can muster the patience to read the protocols until nothing in them seems vague or confusing. But you'd be experimenting directly on a person's brain, so getting it right the first time is a bit more important than with the average DIY project.