Zhu Haijun, Ding Chong, Li Yang, Xu Guizhi
State Key Laboratory of Reliability and Intelligence of Electrical Equipment, School of Electrical Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300130, P.R.China.
School of Pharmacy, North China University of Science and Technology, Tangshan, Hebei 063210, P.R.China.
Sheng Wu Yi Xue Gong Cheng Xue Za Zhi. 2020 Jun 25;37(3):380-388. doi: 10.7507/1001-5515.201905072.
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a noninvasive brain stimulation technique that has been paid attention to with increasing interests as a therapeutic neural rehabilitative tool. Studies confirmed that high-frequency rTMS could improve the cognitive performance in behavioral test as well as the excitability of the neuron in animals. This study aimes to investigate the effects of rTMS on the cognition and neuronal excitability of Kunming mice during the natural aging. Twelve young mice, 12 adult mice, and 12 aged mice were used, and each age group were randomly divided into rTMS group and control group. rTMS-treated groups were subjected to high-frequency rTMS treatment for 15 days, and control groups were treated with sham stimulation for 15 days. Then, novel object recognition and step-down tests were performed to examine cognition of learning and memory. Whole-cell patch clamp technique was used to record and analyze resting membrane potential, action potential (AP), and related electrical properties of AP of hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG) granule neurons. Data analysis showed that cognition of mice and neuronal excitability of DG granule neurons were degenerated significantly as the age increased. Cognitive damage and degeneration of some electrical properties were alleviated under the condition of high-frequency rTMS. It may be one of the mechanisms of rTMS to alleviate cognitive damage and improve cognitive ability by changing the electrophysiological properties of DG granule neurons and increasing neuronal excitability.
重复经颅磁刺激（rTMS）是一种非侵入性脑刺激技术，作为一种治疗性神经康复工具，已越来越受到关注。研究证实，高频rTMS可改善动物行为测试中的认知表现以及神经元的兴奋性。本研究旨在探讨rTMS对自然衰老过程中昆明小鼠认知和神经元兴奋性的影响。使用12只年轻小鼠、12只成年小鼠和12只老年小鼠，每个年龄组随机分为rTMS组和对照组。rTMS治疗组接受高频rTMS治疗15天，对照组接受假刺激15天。然后，进行新物体识别和跳台试验以检测学习和记忆认知。采用全细胞膜片钳技术记录和分析海马齿状回（DG）颗粒神经元的静息膜电位、动作电位（AP）及AP相关电生理特性。数据分析表明，随着年龄增长，小鼠的认知和DG颗粒神经元的兴奋性显著退化。在高频rTMS条件下，认知损伤和一些电生理特性的退化得到缓解。通过改变DG颗粒神经元的电生理特性和增加神经元兴奋性来减轻认知损伤和提高认知能力可能是rTMS的作用机制之一。
