Birmingham VA Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center, Birmingham VA Health Care System, Birmingham, Alabama, United States of America.
Department of Clinical and Diagnostic Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Health Professions, Birmingham, Alabama, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2024 Jul 15;19(7):e0297841. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0297841. eCollection 2024.
Changes in regional levels of the inhibitory neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) may indicate the potential for favorable responses to the treatment of stroke affecting the upper extremity. By selectively altering GABA levels during training, we may induce long-term potentiation and adjust excitatory/inhibitory balance (E/I balance). However, the impact of this alteration may be limited by neural damage or aging. Aerobic exercise has been shown to increase GABA levels in the sensorimotor cortex and improve motor learning by widening the dynamic range of E/I balance. The cross-sectional project, Effects of Acute Exercise on Functional Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Measures of GABA in Aging and Chronic Stroke (EASE), is designed to assess the functional relevance of changes in GABA concentration within the sensorimotor cortex before and after an acute aerobic exercise session.
METHODS/DESIGN: EASE will enroll 30 participants comprised of healthy younger adults (18-35 years; n = 10), older adults (60+ years; n = 10), and persons with chronic stroke (n = 10) affecting distal upper extremity function. We will use resting magnetic resonance spectroscopy to measure all participants' GABA levels at rest before and after aerobic exercise. In addition, we will employ functional magnetic resonance spectroscopy using motor skill acquisition and recall tasks in healthy adults. We hypothesize that acute aerobic exercise will increase resting sensorimotor GABA concentration and that higher GABA resting levels will predict better motor learning performance on measures taken both inside and outside the magnet. We also hypothesize that a higher dynamic range of GABA during task-based spectroscopy in healthy adults will predict better motor skill acquisition and recall.
The EASE project will evaluate the effect of acute exercise on GABA levels as a biomarker of upper extremity motor skill learning with two populations (aging adults and those with chronic stroke). We predict that acute exercise, higher sensorimotor GABA levels, and broader dynamic range will be related to better motor skill acquisition.
抑制性神经递质γ-氨基丁酸（GABA）的区域水平变化可能表明对上肢影响的中风治疗有良好反应的潜力。通过在训练过程中选择性地改变 GABA 水平，我们可以诱导长时程增强和调节兴奋性/抑制性平衡（E/I 平衡）。然而，这种改变的影响可能受到神经损伤或衰老的限制。有氧运动已被证明可以增加感觉运动皮层中的 GABA 水平，并通过扩大 E/I 平衡的动态范围来改善运动学习。横断项目，急性运动对衰老和慢性中风中功能磁共振波谱测量 GABA 的影响（EASE），旨在评估急性有氧运动前后感觉运动皮层内 GABA 浓度变化的功能相关性。
方法/设计：EASE 将招募 30 名参与者，包括健康的年轻人（18-35 岁；n=10）、老年人（60 岁以上；n=10）和患有慢性中风（影响远端上肢功能；n=10）的人。我们将使用静息磁共振波谱在有氧运动前后测量所有参与者的静息 GABA 水平。此外，我们将在健康成年人中使用运动技能习得和回忆任务的功能磁共振波谱。我们假设急性有氧运动将增加静息感觉运动 GABA 浓度，并且更高的 GABA 静息水平将预测在磁铁内外进行的测量中更好的运动学习表现。我们还假设健康成年人基于任务的光谱中 GABA 的更大动态范围将预测更好的运动技能习得和回忆。
EASE 项目将评估急性运动对作为上肢运动技能学习生物标志物的 GABA 水平的影响，涉及两个人群（老年人和患有慢性中风的人）。我们预测急性运动、更高的感觉运动 GABA 水平和更宽的动态范围将与更好的运动技能习得相关。
