The use of magnetic pulses to stimulate the dorsal premotor cortex region of the brain results in an improved ability to learn a skilled motor task.
Researchers showed that skilled movements can be stored as memories in the dorsal premotor cortex, and that magnetic stimulation of this area can facilitate this learning process.
Researchers studied the effect of transcranial magnetic stimulation on the ability of 30 volunteers to track a target on a computer screen using a joystick. The volunteers received four days of training, during which they were either given excitatory stimulation, inhibitory stimulation or sham stimulation. Those participants who had received the excitatory stimulation were significantly better than the other groups at tracking the target.