transcranial magnetic stimulation

:  a noninvasive technique for stimulating brain neurons that uses an insulated electromagnetic coil usually placed superficially on the scalp to produce magnetic fields which generate electric currents in specific areas of the brain ◆Transcranial magnetic stimulation is used especially to measure and map brain functions and to treat depression and neuropathic pain. Now a small but growing number of researchers see hope in a tool called transcranial magnetic stimulation, which lets scientists spark activity in specific areas of the brain and watch what happens to patients' behavior.—Carolyn Y. Johnson, The Boston Globe, 8 June 2009 After a suicide attempt in 2009, she tried something radically different: transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS, a treatment in which magnetic pulses are used to stimulate parts of the brain believed to be involved in mood regulation.—Roni Caryn Rabin, The New York Times, 2 July 2013—abbreviation TMS