Repetitive trans-cranial magnetic stimulation of the human prefrontal cortex induces dopamine release in the caudate nucleus

Abstract

- - The Journal of Neuroscience. 2001. Vol. 21 RC157 1 of 4 Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of the Human Prefrontal Cortex Induces Dopamine Release in the Caudate Nucleus Antonio P. Strafella, TomaS Paus, Jennifer Barrett, and Alain Dagher Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada ti3A 284 Dopamine is implicated in movement, learning, and motivation, and in illnesses such as Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, and drug addiction. Little is known about the control of dopa- mine release in humans, but research in experimental animals suggests that the prefrontal cortex plays an important role in regulating the release of dopamine in subcortical structures. Here we used ["CJraclopride and positron emission tomogra- phy to measure changes in extracellular dopamine concentra- tion in vivo after repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in healthy human subjects. Repetitive TMS of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cor- Animal experiments have shown that descending pathways from the frnrltal cortcx modulate the release of dopaminc in subcortical arcas such as the striatun1 (Murasc et al., 1993; Tabcr and Fibigcr, 1993. 1995; Karreman and Moghaddam, 1996). There is evidcnce that; in tlie rat, this occurs both directly, via glutaniatergic corti- costriat;~l prcljecticlns (Tztber and Fihigcr, 1995), and indirectly by an erect on mesoslriatal dopalnine neurons in the midbrain (Murase et al., 1993; Karreman and Moghaddam: 1996). This modulation may be relcvant to the pathophysiology of disorders associated with subcortical dopamine dysiunction such as Parkin- son's disease (Kish et al., 1988). schizophrenia (Grace, 1991), :~nd depression (Willncr, 1983). Littlc is known, however, about the anatomical pathways involved in the control of dopaminc rclcase in 11um;1ns. Previous studies (Fox ct a].. 1997; Paus ct al., 1997, 1998; Sicbncr et al., 1998) have shown that functional brain imagi