Paolo Ferrari1, Jorge Jovicich1, Jens Volkmar Schwarzbach1, Marco Sandrini1, Simon Robinson1
1Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Mattarello, Trento, Italy
For cognitive neuroscience research Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) is a useful method for probing brain connectivity, combined with fMRI. Standard fMRI experiments interleaved with TMS are possible as proven from several studies, but to date, there are no specific studies that thoroughly characterize and discuss all risks related to concurrent TMS-fMRI. Our goal is to identify main risks of such multimodal experiments. By means of thermal map, flip angle map, tSNR and signal stability evaluation of EPI (percent fluctuation and drift), we try to identify the influence of the TMS-coil in terms of safety and quality.