Cao Na, Sasaki Atsushi, Yuasa Akiko, Popovic Milos R, Milosevic Matija, Nakazawa Kimitaka
Department of Life Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 3-8-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 153-8902, Japan.
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, 5-3-1 Kojimachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 102-0083, Japan.
Exp Brain Res. 2022 May;240(5):1565-1578. doi: 10.1007/s00221-022-06353-3. Epub 2022 Mar 31.
Non-invasive theta burst stimulation (TBS) can elicit facilitatory or inhibitory changes in the central nervous system when applied intermittently (iTBS) or continuously (cTBS). Conversely, neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) can activate the muscles to send a sensory volley, which is also known to affect the excitability of the central nervous system. We investigated whether cortical iTBS (facilitatory) or cTBS (inhibitory) priming can affect subsequent NMES-induced corticospinal excitability. A total of six interventions were tested, each with 11 able-bodied participants: cortical priming followed by NMES (iTBS + NMES and cTBS + NMES), NMES only (iTBS + NMES and cTBS + NMES), and cortical priming only (iTBS + rest and cTBS + rest). After iTBS or cTBS priming, NMES was used to activate right extensor capri radialis (ECR) muscle intermittently for 10 min (5 s ON/5 s OFF). Single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation motor evoked potentials (MEPs) and maximum motor response (M) elicited by radial nerve stimulation were compared before and after each intervention for 30 min. Our results showed that associative facilitatory iTBS + NMES intervention elicited greater MEP facilitation that lasted for at least 30 min after the intervention, while none of the interventions alone were effective to produce effects. We conclude that facilitatory iTBS priming can make the central nervous system more susceptible to changes elicited by NMES through sensory recruitment to enhance facilitation of corticospinal plasticity, while cTBS inhibitory priming efficacy could not be confirmed.
无创性theta波爆发刺激（TBS）在间歇性（iTBS）或持续性（cTBS）应用时，可引起中枢神经系统的易化或抑制性变化。相反，神经肌肉电刺激（NMES）可激活肌肉发送感觉冲动，已知这也会影响中枢神经系统的兴奋性。我们研究了皮质iTBS（易化性）或cTBS（抑制性）预处理是否会影响随后NMES诱导的皮质脊髓兴奋性。总共测试了六种干预措施，每项措施有11名身体健康的参与者：皮质预处理后进行NMES（iTBS + NMES和cTBS + NMES）、仅进行NMES（iTBS + NMES和cTBS + NMES）以及仅进行皮质预处理（iTBS + 休息和cTBS + 休息）。在iTBS或cTBS预处理后，使用NMES间歇性激活右侧桡侧腕伸肌（ECR）10分钟（5秒开启/5秒关闭）。在每次干预前后30分钟，比较单脉冲经颅磁刺激运动诱发电位（MEP）和桡神经刺激诱发的最大运动反应（M）。我们的结果表明，联合易化性iTBS + NMES干预引起更大的MEP易化，且在干预后至少持续30分钟，而单独的任何一种干预均未有效产生作用。我们得出结论，易化性iTBS预处理可使中枢神经系统通过感觉募集对NMES引起的变化更敏感，以增强皮质脊髓可塑性的易化作用，而cTBS抑制性预处理的效果无法得到证实。
