Prof. Dr. med. Aybek, Selma

Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) Research Group

TMS study

The sense of agency is an important aspect of motor control. An impaired sense of agency has been linked to several medical conditions, such as schizophrenia, or FND. A complex brain network subtends the sense of agency, and the right temporo-parietal junction (rTPJ) is one of its main nodes. Interestingly, patients with functional neurological disorders show abnormal activation patterns in the rTPJ.

In the TMS study we aim at investigating whether transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) can modulate activity in the rTPJ, in patients affected by FND and healthy controls.

We collect behavioural data before and after the application of inhibitory, excitatory, and sham TMS, and we study the difference induced by the stimulation. The inhibitory and excitatory protocols are based on the famous theta burst stimulation (TBS) protocols.