Inducing LTD-Like effect in the human motor cortex with low frequency and very short duration paired associative stimulation: An exploratory study

Prachaya Srivanitchapoom, Jung E. Park, Nivethida Thirugnanasambandam, Pattamon Panyakaew, Vesper Fe Marie Ramos, Sanjay Pandey, Tianxia Wu, Mark Hallett

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Introduction. Paired associative stimulation (PAS) is an established technique to investigate synaptic plasticity in the human motor cortex (M1). Classically, to induce long-term depression- (LTD-) or long-term potentiation-like effects in the human M1, studies have used low frequency and long duration trains of PAS. In the present study, we explored an LTD-like effect using very short duration and low frequency of P A S 10 m s protocols in human M1. Methods. Six protocols of low frequency P A S 10 m s (ranging from 0.2 Hz to 1 Hz) were investigated with very short durations of 1 and 2 minutes stimulation. Six healthy volunteers were included in each protocol. We obtained motor-evoked potentials from right abductor pollicis brevis muscle before and after applying P A S 10 m s up to 30 minutes. After we found P A S 10 m s protocol which induced an LTD-like effect, we tested that protocol on additional 5 subjects. Results. One-way repeated-measures ANOVA showed that only the group of 1-minute stimulation of 0.25 Hz induced an LTD-like effect. When adding the additional subjects, the effect remained and lasted for 30 minutes. Conclusion. Low frequency and very short duration of P A S 10 m s potentially induced an LTD-like effect in human M1. With further verification, this method might be useful for research relating to synaptic plasticity by reducing the duration of study and minimizing subject discomfort.

Original languageEnglish
Article number3920298
JournalNeural Plasticity
Volume2016
DOIs
StatePublished - 2016

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