Effect of increased corticospinal excitability by quadripulse transcranial magnetic stimulation to the primary motor cortex on the spinal inhibitory circuit

37th Congress of IUPS (Birmingham, UK) (2013) Proc 37th IUPS, PCD108

Poster Communications: Effect of increased corticospinal excitability by quadripulse transcranial magnetic stimulation to the primary motor cortex on the spinal inhibitory circuit

N. Matsuda1, F. Kaneko2, E. Shibata1, T. Kimura1

1. Graduate School of Health Sciences, Sapporo Medical University, Sapporo, Japan. 2. Second Division of Physical Therapy, Sapporo Medical Univercity, Sapporo, Japan.

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Ia reciprocal inhibition and presynaptic inhibition are related to motor control. The effect of corticospinal excitability to on the spinal inhibitory circuit is studied by repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). However, a relationship between corticospinal excitability and spinal inhibitory circuit has not been considered sufficiently. In recent years, quadripulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (QPS) has attracteds attention as a new technique to induce neural plasticity. QPS induce to increases a corticospinal excitability more effectively than does rTMS. The aim of this study was to clarify the relationship between corticospinal excitability and inhibition of the H- reflex. In Experiment 1, control H-reflex of the flexor carpi radialis (FCR) was induced by stimulation of the median nerve, and the test stimulus intensity was modulated so that the H-reflex was 20% of M max. To assess the Ia reciprocal inhibition and presynaptic inhibition, we applied conditioning stimulation to the radial nerve. The intensity of conditioning stimulation was set to 90% intensity of the M-wave threshold. The interstimulus interval (ISI) was set at 0-5,10,12,14,16,18,20,25,or 30 ms. The conditioned H-reflex was normalized to control H-reflex (% control amplitude). ISI-Ia was set to the minimum % control amplitude from ISI of 0 to 5 ms, in the same way ISI-presynapse was determined from ISI of 10-30 ms. In Experiment 2, the motor evoked potential (MEP) amplitude and H-reflex of the FCR were measured. To measure the conditioned H-reflex, we adopted the ISI-Ia and ISI-presynapse. QPS was performed for 30 minutes. QPS intensity was set to 90% of the motor threshold. We measured the H-reflex and MEP amplitudes twice before QPS (pre QPS-1, pre QPS-2) and every 20 minutes after QPS (post QPS-0, post QPS-20, post QPS-40, post QPS-60). The ratio of % control amplitude to pre QPS-1 was calculated (% pre1 amplitude). A one-way repeated measures analysis with time period as a factor was used to determine the effect of QPS on MEP amplitude and % pre1 amplitude (p<0.05). Dunnett multiple comparisons were performed as post hoc tests (p<0.05). In Experiment 1, The average of ISI-Ia was 4.5 ms and the average of ISI-presynapse was 20 ms. In Experiment 2, the MEP amplitude in post QPS-0 increased significantly compared with that in pre QPS-1 (p=0.01). The % pre1 amplitude of ISI-presynapse in post QPS-0 decreased significantly compared with that in pre QPS-2 (p=0.021). Although the differences were not statistically significant, the MEP amplitude in post QPS 20 increased and the % pre1 amplitude of ISI-presynapse in post QPS 20 decreased. These experimental results suggested that increased corticospinal excitability and increased presynaptic inhibition at the spinal level occurred in parallel.



Where applicable, experiments conform with Society ethical requirements.

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