In an interview, Steele discussed the pressing need for new addiction treatments and the hope that TMS could hold for so many people. How does TMS work in the brain of someone who has an addiction? But we do know that TMS uses electromagnetic pulses that generate an electric current in the brain, which then stimulates a person’s brain cells. With repeated stimulations, there’s some evidence that suggests it can change circuits in the brain or network connectivity in the brain, including addiction pathways. The next step has always been trying to develop an intervention which would involve multiple sessions to try to change substance abuse behavior.