Neurostimulation
In the team, we mainly use two methods of neurostimulation : TMS and intra-operative cognitive mapping.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation technique that uses a magnetic field to generate electrical currents in the brain. It involves placing a small coil of wire on the scalp, which generates a magnetic field that passes through the skull and induces electrical currents in the underlying brain tissue.
These electrical currents can either activate or inhibit the activity of neurons in the targeted brain region, depending on the intensity and frequency of the magnetic pulses. TMS can be used to temporarily disrupt or enhance the function of specific brain regions, which can help us to better understand the neural basis of cognition, behavior, and neurological disorders.
TMS has a variety of applications in both research and clinical settings. For example, it can be used to map the functional connectivity between different brain regions, investigate the effects of brain lesions, or treat conditions such as depression, chronic pain, and tinnitus.
Antoni Valero-Cabré is the reference person for neurostimulation.
Intra-operative cognitive mapping
Diffuse low-grade glioma are slowly growing tumors. The diagnosis is made after a first seizure, in a young adult with a normal socio-professional life. Surgery is the first line of treatment, as it has been demonstrated that the larger the resection, the better the survival. However, the extent of resection should be tailored according to each tumor location and patient's way of life, so that patients could resume the same life as before. To this end, the best methodology is to awake the patient in order to monitor continuously his cognitive and sensori-motor abilities and to perform brain mapping with electrical stimulation, allowing to detect critical areas that should not be resected. All the patients undergo, both before and after the surgery, and as a standard of clinical practice, extensive cognitive evaluations, as well as advanced MRI sequences of functional and structural connectivity.
In this context, it has been observed that while most patients do experience marked cognitive deficits in the immediate postoperative period, a vast majority recover at the late examination, four months after the surgery.
Emmanuel Mandonnet is the lab reference person for intra-operative cognitive mapping.