Publications

Authors:

Mazzi, Chiara; Savazzi, Silvia; Abrahamyan, Arman; Ruzzoli, Manuela

Title:

Reliability of TMS phosphene threshold estimation: Toward a standardized protocol

Year:

2017

Type of item:

Articolo in Rivista

Tipologia ANVUR:

Articolo su rivista

Language:

Inglese

Format:

A Stampa

Referee:

Sì

Name of journal:

BRAIN STIMULATION

ISSN of journal:

1935-861X

N° Volume:

10

Number or Folder:

3

Page numbers:

609-617

Keyword:

phosphene threshold; psychophysics; transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS); vision

Short description of contents:

BACKGROUND: Phosphenes induced by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) are a subjectively described visual phenomenon employed in basic and clinical research as index of the excitability of retinotopically organized areas in the brain. OBJECTIVE: Phosphene threshold estimation is a preliminary step in many TMS experiments in visual cognition for setting the appropriate level of TMS doses; however, the lack of a direct comparison of the available methods for phosphene threshold estimation leaves unsolved the reliability of those methods in setting TMS doses. The present work aims at fulfilling this gap. METHODS: We compared the most common methods for phosphene threshold calculation, namely the Method of Constant Stimuli (MOCS), the Modified Binary Search (MOBS) and the Rapid Estimation of Phosphene Threshold (REPT). In two experiments we tested the reliability of PT estimation under each of the three methods, considering the day of administration, participants' expertise in phosphene perception and the sensitivity of each method to the initial values used for the threshold calculation. RESULTS: We found that MOCS and REPT have comparable reliability when estimating phosphene thresholds, while MOBS estimations appear less stable. CONCLUSIONS: Based on our results, researchers and clinicians can estimate phosphene threshold according to MOCS or REPT equally reliably, depending on their specific investigation goals. We suggest several important factors for consideration when calculating phosphene thresholds and describe strategies to adopt in experimental procedures.

Web page:

https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.brs.2017.01.582

Product ID:

97059

Handle IRIS:

11562/960719

Last Modified:

November 11, 2022

Bibliographic citation:

Mazzi, Chiara; Savazzi, Silvia; Abrahamyan, Arman; Ruzzoli, Manuela, Reliability of TMS phosphene threshold estimation: Toward a standardized protocol «BRAIN STIMULATION» , vol. 10 , n. 3 , 2017 , pp. 609-617

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