Neural mechanisms underlying the changes in ipsilateral primary motor cortex excitability during unilateral rhythmic muscle contraction

作者：Uehara Kazumasa; Morishita Takuya; Kubota Shinji; Funase Kozo^*

来源：Behavioural Brain Research, 2013, 240: 33-45.

DOI：10.1016/j.bbr.2012.10.053

• Rhythmic muscle contraction
• Auditory cue
• Ipsilateral primary motor cortex
• Premotor cortex
• Transcranial magnetic stimulation

The aim of this study was to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying the changes in the ipsilateral primary motor cortex (ipsi-M1) excitability induced during the unilateral rhythmic muscle contraction of the first dorsal interosseous (FDI) (rhythmic contraction) muscle with three different frequencies of auditory cues (1, 2, and 3 Hz). The effect of different frequencies of unilateral rhythmic contraction on changes in the ipsi-M1 excitability was assessed using a single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) technique when subjects were performing the unilateral rhythmic contractions according to each auditory cue frequency. After that, the changes in short intracortical inhibition (SICI)/facilitation (ICF), long intracortical inhibition (LICI) within the ipsi-M1, and interhemispheric inhibition (IHI), as well as dorsal premotor cortex to M1 (PMd-M1), and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex to M1 (DLPFC-M1) connectivity from the contralateral hemisphere to the ipsi-M1 were assessed using paired-pulse TMS techniques. The motor evoked potentials (MEP) induced in the right FDI were recorded. In the results, the ipsi-M1 excitability induced in response to single-pulse TMS was significantly decreased in the 2 Hz conditions, compared with the I Hz and 3 Hz conditions. Furthermore, PMd-M1 connectivity and LICI were significantly modulated depending on the frequency of the unilateral rhythmic contraction. In contrast, the changes in the SICI, ICF, IHI, and DLPFC-M1 were not directly associated with the rhythm frequency. These results suggest that PMd-M1 connectivity and LICI within the ipsi-M1 are likely to preferentially operate to modulate ipsi-M1 excitability during the performance of unilateral rhythmic contraction with different frequencies.

• 出版日期2013-3-1