Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Hokkaido University Hospital, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-8648, Japan.
Human Brain Research Center, Kyoto University School of Medicine, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan.
Neuroscience. 2018 Jun 1;380:38-48. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2018.03.051. Epub 2018 Apr 9.
Neurofeedback has been a powerful method for self-regulating brain activities to elicit potential ability of human mind. GABA is a major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a tool that can evaluate the GABAergic system within the primary motor cortex (M1) using paired-pulse stimuli, short intracortical inhibition (SICI). Herein we investigated whether neurofeedback learning using SICI enabled us to control the GABAergic system within the M1 area. Forty-five healthy subjects were randomly divided into two groups: those receiving SICI neurofeedback learning or those receiving no neurofeedback (control) learning. During both learning periods, subjects made attempts to change the size of a circle, which was altered according to the degree of SICI in the SICI neurofeedback learning group, and which was altered independent of the degree of SICI in the control learning group. Results demonstrated that the SICI neurofeedback learning group showed a significant enhancement in SICI. Moreover, this group showed a significant reduction in choice reaction time compared to the control group. Our findings indicate that humans can intrinsically control the intracortical GABAergic system within M1 and can thus improve motor behaviors by SICI neurofeedback learning. SICI neurofeedback learning is a novel and promising approach to control our neural system and potentially represents a new therapy for patients with abnormal motor symptoms caused by CNS disorders.
神经反馈是一种强大的自我调节大脑活动的方法，可以激发人类思维的潜在能力。GABA 是中枢神经系统中的主要抑制性神经递质。经颅磁刺激（TMS）是一种工具，可使用成对脉冲刺激、短程皮质内抑制（SICI）评估初级运动皮层（M1）中的 GABA 能系统。在此，我们研究了使用 SICI 神经反馈学习是否可以控制 M1 区域内的 GABA 能系统。45 名健康受试者被随机分为两组：接受 SICI 神经反馈学习或不接受神经反馈（对照）学习的组。在两个学习期间，受试者试图改变一个圆圈的大小，根据 SICI 神经反馈学习组中 SICI 的程度改变圆圈的大小，而对照组中圆圈的大小与 SICI 的程度无关。结果表明，SICI 神经反馈学习组的 SICI 显著增强。此外，与对照组相比，该组的选择反应时间显著缩短。我们的研究结果表明，人类可以内在地控制 M1 内的皮质内 GABA 能系统，从而通过 SICI 神经反馈学习改善运动行为。SICI 神经反馈学习是一种新颖而有前途的控制我们神经系统的方法，可能代表着治疗由中枢神经系统障碍引起的异常运动症状的新疗法。
