Plowman-Prine E K, Triggs W J, Malcolm M P, Rosenbek J C
University of Florida, Department of Communicative Disorders, USA.
Clin Neurophysiol. 2008 Oct;119(10):2298-303. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2008.06.006. Epub 2008 Aug 23.
Although transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has been widely used to study motor cortex organization and excitability, the reliability of this technique has not been thoroughly investigated. Furthermore, previous reports of TMS reliability have been restricted to upper limb musculature. We sought to determine the test-retest reliability for TMS mapping of motor representations for swallowing musculature.
Twenty healthy volunteers were tested twice over two weeks using TMS to determine motor threshold, map area, map volume, maximal MEP site location and maximal MEP site size for the suprahyoid complex and pharyngeal musculature.
Good test-retest reliability was found in both swallowing muscle sites for the following test parameters: motor map area, maximal MEP site location: lateral coordinate, maximal MEP site size and motor threshold (ICC=0.76-0.98). Moderate reliability was observed for motor map volume and maximal MEP site location: anterior-posterior coordinate (ICC=0.68-0.74).
TMS assessments of motor representation size, location and excitability appear to be highly reproducible, although the reliability of these measures may vary according to the specific muscle under investigation.
These works provide much needed psychometric data to validate the use of TMS to assess the cortical representation of swallowing musculature.
尽管经颅磁刺激（TMS）已被广泛用于研究运动皮层的组织和兴奋性，但该技术的可靠性尚未得到充分研究。此外，先前关于TMS可靠性的报告仅限于上肢肌肉组织。我们试图确定TMS映射吞咽肌肉组织运动表征的重测可靠性。
20名健康志愿者在两周内接受了两次TMS测试，以确定舌骨上肌群和咽部肌肉组织的运动阈值、映射面积、映射体积、最大运动诱发电位（MEP）位点位置和最大MEP位点大小。
在两个吞咽肌肉部位，以下测试参数的重测可靠性良好：运动映射面积、最大MEP位点位置：外侧坐标、最大MEP位点大小和运动阈值（组内相关系数[ICC]=0.76 - 0.98）。运动映射体积和最大MEP位点位置：前后坐标的可靠性为中等（ICC = 0.68 - 0.74）。
TMS对运动表征大小、位置和兴奋性的评估似乎具有高度可重复性，尽管这些测量的可靠性可能因所研究的特定肌肉而异。
这些研究提供了急需的心理测量数据，以验证使用TMS评估吞咽肌肉组织的皮层表征。
