Berenson-Allen Center for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation, Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Eur J Neurosci. 2012 Sep;36(6):2782-8. doi: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2012.08172.x. Epub 2012 Jun 28.
Most candidate genes and genetic abnormalities linked to autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are thought to play a role in developmental and experience-dependent plasticity. As a possible index of plasticity, we assessed the modulation of motor corticospinal excitability in individuals with Asperger's syndrome (AS) using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). We measured the modulatory effects of theta-burst stimulation (TBS) on motor evoked potentials (MEPs) induced by single-pulse TMS in individuals with AS as compared with age-, gender- and IQ-matched neurotypical controls. The effect of TBS lasted significantly longer in the AS group. The duration of the TBS-induced modulation alone enabled the reliable classification of a second study cohort of subjects as AS or neurotypical. The alteration in the modulation of corticospinal excitability in AS is thought to reflect aberrant mechanisms of plasticity, and might provide a valuable future diagnostic biomarker for the disease and ultimately offer a target for novel therapeutic interventions.
大多数与自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）相关的候选基因和遗传异常被认为在发育和经验依赖性可塑性中发挥作用。作为可塑性的一个可能指标，我们使用经颅磁刺激（TMS）评估了阿斯伯格综合征（AS）个体运动皮质脊髓兴奋性的调制。我们测量了 AS 个体与年龄、性别和智商匹配的神经典型对照组相比，单个 TMS 脉冲诱导的运动诱发电位（MEP）中θ爆发刺激（TBS）的调制效应。TBS 的作用在 AS 组中持续时间明显更长。TBS 诱导的调制持续时间本身足以可靠地将第二组研究对象分类为 AS 或神经典型。AS 中皮质脊髓兴奋性调制的改变被认为反映了异常的可塑性机制，并且可能为该疾病提供有价值的未来诊断生物标志物，并最终为新的治疗干预提供目标。
