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Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has recently been finding use as a non-invasive way of stimulating the brain. A transcranial magnetic stimulation device generates an electromagnetic pulse that passes easily through a person’s skull. This electromagnetic pulse is then able to generate an electric current within the brain. Transcranial magnetic stimulation can be targeted at almost any brain region. It can selectively excite or inhibit brain regions for therapeutic effect. Its targeting accuracy usually means a higher efficacy for a variety of brain disorders and fewer side effects than currently available drugs.

Now scientists have begun researching transcranial magnetic stimulation as a way to diagnose and treat sleeping disorders. The entire brain can undergo fairly large changes when a person goes to sleep. Researchers have looked at the effects of sleep on cortical excitability. Transcranial magnetic stimulation has the ability to alter the brain in order to improve sleep patterns. Researchers have combined repetitive TMS with a brain reading EEG device. This allows them to determine the transcranial mangetic stimulation affect on the brain during sleep. They have already used this combination to treat several sleep disorders including restless legs syndrome, narcolepsy, obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome and propriospinal myoclonus.

In the fairly recent past, researchers have used TMS to artificially induce deep sleep in specific patients. The TMS was actually able to trigger very slow brain waves. These slow brain waves are associated with the beneficial and restorative aspects of having a very deep type of sleep. So using TMS can help a person get a more long laster and restful sleep. This could, in theory, help those who have a lot of difficulty actually getting to sleep.

TMS is also being used to improve wakefullness as well. Researchers from columbia university medical center have used TMS to improve functioning among people who had undergone sleep deprivation. They used TMS to activate a specific area of the brain to improve a person’s working memory. Working memory describes the brain’s process for manipulating and storing information very temporarily. When a person does not have enough sleep, their working memory often declines in capacity. The TMS was able to activate an area of the brain called the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. By activating this area, researchers were able to improve a patients working memory. So transcranial magnetic stimulation may also be used to allow people to squeeze more out of the hours that they do sleep. In the future transcranial magnetic stimulation may be used to both help people to be more awake and also get better sleep as well.