PhD defence Jasmina Pancheva Paneva

Keywords: Brain stimulation, Brain state-dependence, Brain networks, Translational clinical neuroscience

"Everything Flows: Multimodal investigations into the role of brain state dynamics in shaping transcranial magnetic stimulation effects"

This dissertation asks why brain stimulation can have different effects in different people, or even in the same person at different times. It focuses on transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), a method that uses magnetic pulses to influence brain activity and is also used to treat conditions such as depression. The studies show that the effect of TMS on people depends partly on the state of the brain at the moment of stimulation. The brain state can be influenced by long-term factors like depressive symptoms, short-term changes in mood, and fast changes in electrical brain activity. These studies suggest there are many potential sources of brain state differences, which may be shaping the effects of TMS. The findings contained in this thesis may help the effort to develop more precise, more personalised brain stimulation, by choosing better moments and better brain states, in which to stimulate.

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