Protocol Number: 03-N-0074
Healthy right-handed volunteers between 18 and 50 years of age may be eligible for this study. Candidates will be screened with a brief medical history and physical examination. Eligible volunteers may participate in one or both parts of this two-part study. Each part involves a minimum of three and a maximum of six 2-hour sessions. For TMS, the subject sits in a comfortable chair, with his or her forearm immobilized at the side and an electronic device attached to the thumb for measuring thumb movement. An insulated magnetic coil is placed on the scalp, through which a brief electrical current is occasionally delivered. The current passes through the coil, creating a magnetic pulse that travels through the scalp and skull and causes small electrical currents in the brain cortex. The stimulation is likely to cause a mild thumb movement. During the stimulation, electrical activity of muscles is recorded with a computer or other recording device, using electrodes taped to the skin. After an initial TMS session, the subject either 1) watches a video consisting of thumb movements in various directions, counting the number of movements, or 2) performs voluntary thumb movements, or 3) both observes the video and performs the movements. At the end of the 30-minute observation or practice session, the TMS is repeated.
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