Noninvasive electrical and magnetic brain stimulation (with insights on the effects of cellular phones emissions): Basic principles and procedures for clinical application

Transcranial magnetic stimulation is a method that applies magnetic fields to stimulate brain cortex and generate potentials that can be used for diagnostic, therapeutic, and research applications. The first part of the chapter briefly examines the clinical methods through which magnetic stimulation of the brain allows to study the passage of nerve impulses within the motor pathways and detects clinical abnormalities. The main methods currently used in the diagnostic field are quickly reviewed and new methods currently used in the research field are also considered. The second part of this chapter examines the possibilities of using magnetic brain stimulation for therapeutic purposes in clinical conditions where a disregulation of neuronal excitability plays a central role. In the final part of the chapter, electric stimulation methods as direct and alternating current stimulation, directly derived from the studies on magnetic stimulation as well as the influences of electromagnetic emissions from cellular phones on brain excitability are shortly examined.