Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to reorganize and adapt itself. One treatment that utilizes this neuroplasticity is TMS. In this article, we explore how TMS and neuroplasticity work together to achieve impressive results.
What is neuroplasticity?
Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to adapt and reorganize by forming new connections between neurons. This feature of the brain forms the foundation of learning, memory, and recovery from brain damage. Neuroplasticity helps the brain recover from injury, adapt to new situations, and take over functions lost due to damage.
Your brain consists of billions of nerve cells (neurons) connected via what are called neural pathways. The more often you think certain thoughts or perform certain behaviors, the stronger those pathways become, just like training a muscle. Neuroplasticity is a lifelong process, but it works faster and more effectively with sufficient sleep, exercise, healthy nutrition, challenges, and emotional safety. Your brain doesn’t just change through thinking, but especially through doing. New experiences, even small steps, make a real difference.
Neuroplasticity involves different forms and aspects that together contribute to the brain’s adaptability. Your brain can respond to changes in your environment, new experiences, or even damage to the nervous system. An important part of this is synaptic plasticity: the strength of the connections between neurons (synapses) changes, which forms the basis for learning and memory. Additionally, structural changes can occur in the brain cells themselves, such as the growth of new branches (dendrites and axons), which allows information to be processed faster or more efficiently.
With functional reorganization, other brain areas can take over functions if damage has occurred, such as after a stroke. And although neuroplasticity is most active during childhood, this process continues throughout life. Even in adulthood, you can create new connections and replace old ones, something that brings hope for anyone working on recovery or personal growth.
What are neural pathways?
Neural pathways are the ‘highways’ of your brain: connections between nerve cells (neurons) through which signals are transmitted. Every habit, thought, or emotional reaction follows such a path. The more often you use a particular path, the stronger it becomes. Compare it to a forest trail that becomes more and more worn the more it is walked. Neuroplasticity makes it possible to weaken old, unhelpful neural pathways while creating new, healthier connections. This process is essential for behavioral change, emotional regulation, and recovery from psychological symptoms.
How does neuroplasticity work?
- The more often you experience a particular thought, movement, or emotion, the stronger the connections in your brain become.
- Paths you use less become weaker or disappear.
- You can unlearn old habits and develop new ones because your brain is flexible.
- Brain regions can take over functions. For example, after a stroke, other brain areas can sometimes take over tasks.
Why is it important?
- For psychological recovery: Neuroplasticity helps release negative thought patterns (as seen in depression, anxiety, or trauma) and build helpful thoughts and behaviors.
- In therapy: Treatments like cognitive behavioral therapy or rTMS use neuroplasticity to ‘retrain’ the brain.
- For addiction: It helps weaken old addiction pathways and build new habits.
- For learning and growth: Every time you learn something new—be it a language or a habit—you are using neuroplasticity.
- For healthy aging: Even later in life, you can keep your brain active and sharp by continuously challenging it.
What influences neuroplasticity?
Neuroplasticity doesn’t just happen. You can actively stimulate or inhibit it. Factors that influence it include:
- Learning & challenge: Learning new things, challenging yourself, and staying active helps your brain grow.
- Experiences: The more sensory, emotional, or meaningful an experience is, the stronger its impact on your brain.
- Sleep: During sleep, new connections are consolidated. Without enough rest, neuroplasticity weakens.
- Exercise: Physical activity improves blood flow to the brain and supports cognitive functions.
- Stress: Prolonged stress can hinder neuroplasticity. So managing stress is essential for mental recovery.
How TMS stimulates neuroplasticity
TMS (Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation) uses magnetic pulses to activate specific brain areas. These pulses generate small electrical currents in the brain, temporarily increasing activity in those regions. This heightened activity stimulates the brain to form new connections between neurons. And that’s exactly what neuroplasticity is: the brain’s ability to adapt and recover. Neuroplasticity is the key to healing, and TMS helps use that key.
By repeatedly stimulating the same brain areas, TMS strengthens existing networks and encourages the brain to form new neural pathways. This process plays an important role in restoring functions that have been disrupted, such as in depression, anxiety, or OCD.
In mental health disorders like depression, there’s often an imbalance in brain activity. Some areas are overactive, while others send too few signals. TMS helps restore that balance by directly stimulating the underactive regions and improving communication in the brain. The result? A brain better able to regulate emotions, process thoughts differently, and build resilience.
Scientific evidence
Studies have shown that TMS promotes neuroplasticity. Research on patients with depression has demonstrated that TMS can lead to long-term improvements in mood and functioning, partly thanks to changes in neural connectivity and plasticity. A study published in “Biological Psychiatry” showed that TMS can strengthen connections in the prefrontal cortex, a region crucial for mood and cognitive functions. More research is underway exploring TMS for different conditions, applications, and outcomes. Check out the research from T-BIDE or TETRO as well.
TMS for different conditions
TMS is a versatile and promising treatment used for various psychological and neurological complaints. For depression, it can help reduce symptoms by stimulating certain brain areas that influence mood. We also see positive effects for anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). TMS is also being researched as a possible treatment for chronic pain, tinnitus, and even addictions, such as cocaine use. Its wide applicability shows just how much potential TMS has, especially if you’re looking for a non-invasive, medication-free approach to tough-to-treat symptoms.
Depression and anxiety
TMS has proven particularly effective in treating treatment-resistant depression. By stimulating the prefrontal cortex, TMS helps restore normal brain activity, which can reduce depressive symptoms. By targeting brain areas involved in anxiety regulation, TMS can also help reduce anxious feelings and improve emotional stability.
OCD
This non-invasive technique targets specific brain regions involved in OCD symptoms, such as the orbitofrontal cortex and supplementary motor area. By delivering magnetic pulses to these areas, TMS can help reduce overactivity and normalize brain function. TMS can be effective in reducing both obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors, making it a valuable additional treatment for individuals who haven’t responded sufficiently to traditional therapies.
Addiction
TMS is also being studied as a treatment for addictions, including cocaine addiction. Its ability to modulate brain pathways involved in reward and impulse control makes it a promising therapy for reducing cravings and supporting recovery. Also read our article on TMS and cocaine addiction.
Ready to start treatment?
At rTMS International, we’re here to support you. Want to find out if TMS is right for you? Sign up using our intake form. Together we’ll look at the treatment that suits you best.