Understanding Cortical Dysfunction in Schizophrenia With TMS/EEG

SOURCE: Frontiers in Neuroscience. 14 (no pagination), 2020. Article Number: 554. Date of Publication: 28 May 2020.

AUTHORS: Vittala A.; Murphy N.; Maheshwari A.; Krishnan V.

Abstract
In schizophrenia and related disorders, a deeper mechanistic understanding of neocortical dysfunction will be essential to developing new diagnostic and therapeutic techniques. To this end, combined transcranial magnetic stimulation and electroencephalography (TMS/EEG) provides a non-invasive tool to simultaneously perturb and measure neurophysiological correlates of cortical function, including oscillatory activity, cortical inhibition, connectivity, and synchronization. In this review, we summarize the findings from a variety of studies that apply TMS/EEG to understand the fundamental features of cortical dysfunction in schizophrenia. These results lend to future applications of TMS/EEG in understanding the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying cognitive deficits in schizophrenia.