CLINICAL-APPLICATIONS OF MOTOR EVOKED-POTENTIALS

Magnetic stimulation of brain and spinal roots provides a non-invasive evaluation of nervous propagation as well as of motor cortex excitabi lity in healthy subjects and in patients affected by neurological dise ases (i.e. multiple sclerosis, stroke, Parkinson's disease, myelopathi es etc.). Motor areas can be reliably mapped and short-and long-term ' plastic' changes of neural connections can be studied and monitored ov er time. By evaluating excitatory and inhibitory phenomena following t ranscranial stimuli, the mechanisms of action of different drugs, incl uding antiepileptics, can be studied. Moreover, transcranial stimulati on of non-motor brain areas represents a probe for the evaluation of l ateralized hemispheric properties connected with higher cortical funct ions. Recent studies suggest a therapeutic role of repetitive magnetic stimulation in psychiatric disorders. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science irela nd Ltd.