@article {Romero405753, author = {Maria C. Romero and Marco Davare and Marcelo Armendariz and Peter Janssen}, title = {Neural basis of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation at the single-cell Level}, elocation-id = {405753}, year = {2018}, doi = {10.1101/405753}, publisher = {Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory}, abstract = {Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) can non-invasively modulate neural activity in humans. Despite three decades of research, the spatial extent of the cortical area activated by TMS is still controversial. Moreover, how TMS interacts with task-related activity during motor behavior is unknown. We applied single-pulse TMS over the macaque parietal cortex while recording single-unit activity at various distances from the center of stimulation during grasping. The spatial extent of the TMS-induced activation was remarkably restricted, affecting single neurons in a volume of cortex measuring less than 2 mm. In task-related neurons, TMS evoked a transient excitation followed by reduced activity, which was paralleled by a significantly longer grasping time. Furthermore, TMS- induced activity and task-related activity did not summate in single neurons. These results furnish crucial experimental evidence for the neural basis of the TMS effect at the single-cell level and uncover, the neural underpinnings of behavioral effects of TMS.}, URL = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/08/31/405753}, eprint = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/08/31/405753.full.pdf}, journal = {bioRxiv} }