Concerto Carmen, Infortuna Carmenrita, Chusid Eileen, Coira Diego, Babayev Jacqueline, Metwaly Rowan, Naenifard Hesam, Aguglia Eugenio, Battaglia Fortunato
Department of Interprofessional Health Sciences & Health Administration, School of Health and Medical Sciences, Seton Hall University, NJ, USA.
Pre-clinical Sciences, New York College of Podiatric Medicine, New York, USA.
Physiol Behav. 2017 Oct 1;179:361-368. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2017.07.013. Epub 2017 Jul 8.
Energy drinks are thought to improve certain aspects of athletic and cognitive performances. Moreover, less is understood about physiological mechanisms that might underlie these effects. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of sugar-free energy drink (SFED) ingestion on corticomotor excitability and plasticity. Fourteen college students consumed a commercially available SFED or a "dummy" drink. By using Transcranial magnetic Stimulation (TMS) we investigated resting motor threshold (RMT), motor evoked potential (MEP) amplitude and cortical silent period (CSP). Paired-pulse stimulation was used to assess short interval intracortical inhibition (SICI) and intracortical facilitation (ICF). Sensorimotor integration was investigated with the short- and long-afferent inhibition paradigms (SAI and LAI). Cortical plasticity was studied with the paired associative stimulation (PAS) paradigm. In addition, we examined the effect of SFED on simple reaction time (RT), pre-movement facilitation and post-exercise facilitation (PEF). SFED consumption decreased ICF, shortened RT, increased pre-movement facilitation and PEF of the motor evoked potentials. These results demonstrate that SFED consumption induced a shorter RT that is paralleled by changes in cortical excitability at rest, prior and after a non-fatiguing muscle contraction. These acute changes in brain function might be of relevance in understanding the mechanisms underlying the enhancement of psychomotor performance.
能量饮料被认为可以改善运动和认知表现的某些方面。此外，对于这些作用可能潜在的生理机制了解较少。本研究的目的是检验摄入无糖能量饮料（SFED）对皮质运动兴奋性和可塑性的影响。14名大学生饮用了市售的SFED或“假”饮料。通过使用经颅磁刺激（TMS），我们研究了静息运动阈值（RMT）、运动诱发电位（MEP）幅度和皮质静息期（CSP）。采用配对脉冲刺激来评估短间隔皮质内抑制（SICI）和皮质内易化（ICF）。通过短传入抑制和长传入抑制范式（SAI和LAI）研究感觉运动整合。用配对联想刺激（PAS）范式研究皮质可塑性。此外，我们还研究了SFED对简单反应时间（RT）、运动前易化和运动后易化（PEF）的影响。饮用SFED降低了ICF，缩短了RT，增加了运动诱发电位的运动前易化和PEF。这些结果表明，饮用SFED可使RT缩短，同时在静息时、非疲劳性肌肉收缩之前和之后皮质兴奋性发生变化。脑功能的这些急性变化可能与理解心理运动表现增强的潜在机制有关。
