Transcranial magnetic stimulation research on reading and dyslexia: a new clinical intervention technique for treating dyslexia?

Abstract

Rapid-rate transcranial magnetic stimulationLater, a variant of TMS was developed, which is called rapid-rate TMS (rTMS). [8,9] Further improvements of the stimulators, which are now able to provide discharges at frequencies of up to 60 Hz, have greatly increased the value of TMS as a tool in cognitive neuroscience A B S T R A C TNowadays, several noninvasive neuroimaging techniques, including transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), exist. The working mechanism behind TMS is a rapidly changing magnetic field that generates an electric current via electromagnetic induction. When the coil is placed on the scalp, the magnetic field generates a physiological reaction in the underlying neural tissue. The TMS-induced change in the participant's behavior is used by researchers to investigate the causal relations between specific brain areas and cognitive functions such as language. A variant of TMS has been developed, which is called rapid-rate TMS (rTMS). In this review, three databases (Medline, Educational Resources Information Center, and Scopus) were searched for rTMS studies on normal reading and dyslexia with a cut-off date of October 31, 2014. rTMS was found to be a valuable tool for investigating questions related to reading research, both on the word and the sentence level. Moreover, it can be successfully used in research on dyslexia. Recently, (high-frequency) rTMS has been used as a "clinical" intervention technique for treating dyslexia and for improving reading performance by exciting underactive reading pathways in the brain. Finally, we end the paper with a discussion of future directions in the field of rTMS research and dyslexia, for instance, the promising prospect of combining TMS with simultaneous electroencephalographic imaging.

The use of noninvasive brain stimulation techniques to improve reading difficulties in dyslexia: A systematic review

“…In contrast to the progress made in behavioral interventions, however, only few studies so far have investigated whether a modulation at the neural level is equally or even more successful. Hence, there is a great demand to test the potential of neurostimulation techniques in the reading network in children or adolescents struggling with reading and writing (e.g., see discussion in van den Noort, Struys, & Bosch, 2015), but limited research has been performed so far.…”

“…Due to the very promising results of NIBS in clinical populations, such as patients with depression (Martin et al, 2003), obsessivecompulsive disorder (Guo, Li, & Wang, 2017;Schulz, Gerloff, & Hummel, 2013), and aphasia (Saur & Hartwigsen, 2012), NIBS could be a promising intervention for learning disabilities as well (e.g., van den Noort et al, 2015). With respect to reading impairments, it is particularly interesting to explore network interactions within reading areas, and map potential increases and decreases of activity in specific brain areas after stimulation (see Figure 1).…”

“…A review by van den Noort et al (2015) suggests that rTMS might be a valuable tool for investigating questions related to reading research, but only one study to date (Costanzo, Menghini, Caltagirone, Oliveri, & Vicari, 2013) has used TMS in dyslexics. More recently, Cancer and Antonietti (2018) summarized the findings of several tDCS studies exploring reading processing in children and adults with reading impairments or weak reading skills.…”

“…First, studies were collected from previous reviews (Cancer & Antonietti, 2018;van den Noort et al, 2015;Wilcox et al, 2020).…”