Autism Talk TV – Ep. 10 – Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

In this 18 minute episode of Autism Talk TV I sit down with Lindsay Oberman at Harvard Medical School’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center to talk about TMS, a technology that allows researchers to use magnets to affect the brains of individuals with Autism. First we have an interview with Lindsay and then you can watch me undergoing TMS.

Lindsay discusses the details of TMS and how it relates to Autism. She has been interested in Autism since she was a graduate student and clearly has a passion for finding out how autistic brains differ from neurotypical ones.

Watch Episode 10 of Autism Talk TV
I was surprised that the TMS researchers were able to use a magnet to move my hand and individual fingers. The region they affected on me was the motor cortex which governs movement. The idea that you can use a magnet to make changes to the brain sounds like science fiction, but it isn’t fiction at all.

Lindsay is close to conclusively figuring out exactly how autistic brains differ from neurotypical brains. There is great potential for TMS being used as a diagnostic tool as well as a theraputic tool.