IS 22. Coupling of motor imagination and nervous system stimulation to induce cortical plasticity

We recently developed a novel technique for inducing plasticity in the human motor cortex by combining the physiologically generated signal when a person imagines a simple dorsiflexion task with the peripheral stimulation of the nerve that innervates the muscle involved in the task (). The subject activates the relevant brain areas via imagination and is provided with the expected afferent feedback via the single peripheral electrical stimulation to the target nerve. This protocol induced significant plasticity only when the afferent volley was timed to arrive during the peak negativity (PN) of the movement-related cortical potential (MRCP) generated in the corresponding brain area during the imagined task. The changes were specific to the target muscle, long lasting and rapidly evolving. These changes could be induced independent of if the subject was cued to start the movement or self-selected when to perform (). Only 50 repetitions of this combined stimulation paradigm are required to have an effect that outlasts the intervention. In a recent study with our collaborator Professor Kostic of the Department of Neurology, University of Belgrade, Serbia, we applied this intervention in a group of 13 chronic stroke subjects and evaluated neural plasticity and functional changes as quantified by the 10m walk test and a foot tapping task. Patients attended five separate sessions. In the first and last session clinical measures and the MRCP during 50 attempted dorsiflexion movement...
Source: Clinical Neurophysiology - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Tags: Society Proceedings Source Type: research