Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive tool which gives information about cortical function. It is particularly useful in the study of the motor cortex and its connections via the corticospinal tract and the corpus callosum. A single suprathreshold stimulus to the motor cortex produces a motor evoked potential (MEP) and inhibition of ongoing muscle activity in ipsilateral and contralateral target muscles. TMS studies have demonstrated differences in both the velocity of central motor conduction, and the ability to evoke motor inhibition when comparing adults with children under 10 years of age. These differences suggest that cortical inhibitory and facilitatory systems undergo normal developmental changes during the first decade of life, and that they may form the neural substrate for the clinical developmental changes that occur in children during this same period of time.