Mechanisms of use-dependent plasticity in the human motor cortex

Bütefisch, Cathrin M.; Davis, Benjamin C.; Wise, Steven P.; Sawaki, Lumy; Kopylev, Leonid; Claßen, Joseph; Cohen, Leonardo G.

doi:10.1073/pnas.97.7.3661

Cited by 479 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Several human studies have demonstrated that long-term perceptual training or attentional shifts reorganize human somatosensory cortex (25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30). However, although these studies demonstrated that the type of Euclidean distance between the N20-dipole location before and after coactivation for the test and the control finger (hemispheric difference, P Ͻ 0.05).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Shifts in cortical representations predict human discrimination improvement

Pleger

Dinse

Ragert

et al. 2001

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

194

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We report experiments combining assessment of spatial tactile discrimination behavior and measurements of somatosensoryevoked potentials in human subjects before and after short-term plastic changes to demonstrate a causal link between the degree of altered performance and reorganization. Plastic changes were induced by a Hebbian coactivation protocol of simultaneous pairing of tactile stimuli. As a result of coactivation, spatial discrimination thresholds were lowered; however, the amount of discrimination improvement was variable across subjects. Analysis of somatosensory-evoked potentials revealed a significant, but also variable shift in the localization of the N20-dipole of the index finger that was coactivated. The Euclidean distance between the dipole pre-and post-coactivation was significantly larger on the coactivated side (mean 9.13 ؎ 3.4 mm) than on the control side (mean 4.90 ؎ 2.7 mm, P ‫؍‬ 0.008). Changes of polar angles indicated a lateral and inferior shift on the postcentral gyrus of the left hemisphere representing the coactivated index finger. To explore how far the variability of improvement was reflected in the degree of reorganization, we correlated the perceptual changes with the N20-dipole shifts. We found that the changes in discrimination abilities could be predicted from the changes in dipole localization. Little gain in spatial discrimination was associated with small changes in dipole shifts. In contrast, subjects who showed a large cortical reorganization also had lowest thresholds. All changes were highly selective as no transfer to the index finger of the opposite, non-coactivated hand was found. Our results indicate that human spatial discrimination performance is subject to improvement on a short time scale by a Hebbian stimulation protocol without invoking training, attention, or reinforcement. Plastic processes related to the improvement were localized in primary somatosensory cortex and were scaled with the degree of the individual perceptual improvement. N oninvasive imaging techniques used to explore cortical reorganization in human subjects revealed that improvement of behavioral performance following extensive use or training is paralleled by substantial changes of cortical representations (1-7). These findings confirmed the relevance of cortical plasticity for everyday life; however, it remains open how far differences in the magnitude of reorganizational changes can explain individual differences in learning-induced changes of performance. Specifically, there is a controversy in how far the variability of improvement is reflected in the degree of reorganization. Here, we report experiments combining simultaneous assessment of spatial tactile discrimination behavior and measurements of somatosensory-evoked potentials (SSEPs) before and after short-term plastic changes to demonstrate a close link between altered performance and reorganization in primary somatosensory cortex.To induce cortical reorganization without invoking training or cognitive factors such as attention ...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Shifts in cortical representations predict human discrimination improvement

Pleger

Dinse

Ragert

et al. 2001

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

194

224

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…On a speculative note, one might assume a plasticity-inducing process due to skill acquisition during repeated 2FT performance, which has been shown to coincide with a reduction of GABAergic motorcortical inhibition (Bütefisch et al, 2000; Ziemann et al, 2001; Floyer-Lea et al, 2006; Stagg et al, 2011a), adding to the disinhibitory effect of atDCS. Therefore, this might be interpreted as an indicator of immediate physiological homeostatic mechanisms, which limit the induction of plasticity to stabilize the excitation/inhibition balance and maintain network integrity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differential behavioral and physiological effects of anodal transcranial direct current stimulation in healthy adults of younger and older age

Heise

Niehoff

Feldheim

et al. 2014

Front. Aging Neurosci.

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Changes in γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) mediated synaptic transmission have been associated with age-related motor and cognitive functional decline. Since anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (atDCS) has been suggested to target cortical GABAergic inhibitory interneurons, its potential for the treatment of deficient inhibitory activity and functional decline is being increasingly discussed. Therefore, after-effects of a single session of atDCS on resting-state and event-related short-interval intracortical inhibition (SICI) as evaluated with double-pulse TMS and dexterous manual performance were examined using a sham-controlled cross-over design in a sample of older and younger participants. The atDCS effect on resting-state inhibition differed in direction, magnitude, and timing, i.e., late relative release of inhibition in the younger and early relative increase in inhibition in the older. More pronounced release of event-related inhibition after atDCS was exclusively seen in the older. Event-related modulation of inhibition prior to stimulation predicted the magnitude of atDCS-induced effects on resting-state inhibition. Specifically, older participants with high modulatory capacity showed a disinhibitory effect comparable to the younger. Beneficial effects on behavior were mainly seen in the older and in tasks requiring higher dexterity, no clear association with physiological changes was found. Differential effects of atDCS on SICI, discussed to reflect GABAergic inhibition at the level of the primary motor cortex, might be distinct in older and younger participants depending on the functional integrity of the underlying neural network. Older participants with preserved modulatory capacity, i.e., a physiologically “young” motor network, were more likely to show a disinhibitory effect of atDCS. These results favor individually tailored application of tDCS with respect to specific target groups.

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“…In addition, repetition of movements has been suggested to result in motor memories in the primary motor cortex and probably other cortical areas that encode the kinematic details of the practiced movements (Classen et al, 1998; Butefisch et al, 2000; Stefan et al, 2005; Cross et al, 2009). Of particular interest, previous studies have demonstrated that motor memory can also be encoded by action observation and this form of action observation can enhance the effects of motor training on memory encoding, possibly through modulation of intracortical excitatory mechanisms (Stefan et al, 2005; Celnik et al, 2006).…”

Section: Functional Neuroplasticity In Skill Learning and Expertisementioning

confidence: 99%

The cortical activation pattern by a rehabilitation robotic hand: a functional NIRS study

Chang

Lee

Gu³

et al. 2014

Front. Hum. Neurosci.

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Introduction: Clarification of the relationship between external stimuli and brain response has been an important topic in neuroscience and brain rehabilitation. In the current study, using functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), we attempted to investigate cortical activation patterns generated during execution of a rehabilitation robotic hand.Methods: Ten normal subjects were recruited for this study. Passive movements of the right fingers were performed using a rehabilitation robotic hand at a frequency of 0.5 Hz. We measured values of oxy-hemoglobin (HbO), deoxy-hemoglobin (HbR) and total-hemoglobin (HbT) in five regions of interest: the primary sensory-motor cortex (SM1), hand somatotopy of the contralateral SM1, supplementary motor area (SMA), premotor cortex (PMC), and prefrontal cortex (PFC).Results: HbO and HbT values indicated significant activation in the left SM1, left SMA, left PMC, and left PFC during execution of the rehabilitation robotic hand (uncorrected, p < 0.01). By contrast, HbR value indicated significant activation only in the hand somatotopic area of the left SM1 (uncorrected, p < 0.01).Conclusions: Our results appear to indicate that execution of the rehabilitation robotic hand could induce cortical activation.

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Mechanisms of use-dependent plasticity in the human motor cortex

Cited by 479 publications

References 27 publications

Shifts in cortical representations predict human discrimination improvement

Shifts in cortical representations predict human discrimination improvement

Differential behavioral and physiological effects of anodal transcranial direct current stimulation in healthy adults of younger and older age

The cortical activation pattern by a rehabilitation robotic hand: a functional NIRS study

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