Reduced brain entropy by repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in healthy young adults

Entropy indicates system irregularity and the capacity for information processing. Recent research has identified interesting voxel-wise entropy distribution patterns in normal brain and its changes due to aging and brain disorders. A question of great scientific and clinical importance is whether brain entropy (BEN) can be modulated using non-invasive neuromodulations. The purpose of this study was to address this open question using high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). BEN was calculated from resting state fMRI at each voxel acquired before and after applying 20 Hz rTMS or SHAM (control) stimulation. As compared to SHAM, 20 Hz rTMS reduced BEN in medial orbito-frontal cortex and subgenial anterior cingulate cortex (MOFC/sgACC), suggesting a reduced information processing therein, probably as a result of the enhanced top-down regulation by the left DLPFC rTMS. No significant changes were observed to the functional connectivity (FC) between the left DLPFC (the target site) to the rest of the brain, suggesting that rTMS may not affect FC though it might use FC to transfer its effects or the ad hoc information. Our data proved that rTMS can modulate BEN and BEN can be used to monitor rTMS effects.