title: Transcranial magnetic stimulation study of plastic changes of human motor cortex after repetitive simple muscle contractions.
abstract: Studies of use-dependent changes in neural activation have recently focused on the primary motor cortex. To detect the excitability changes in the primary motor cortex after practice in human subjects, motor-evoked potentials by transcranial magnetic stimulation during motor imagery after just 10 sessions of simple index finger abduction were examined. The present results indicate that width of the output map and amplitudes of motor-evoked potential became progressively larger until practice ended. These flexible short-term modulations of human primary motor cortex seem important and could lead to structural changes in the intracortical networks as the skill becomes more learned and automatic, i.e., 'adaptation' as one of the neural mechanisms related to motor learning.
authors.affiliation: Hiroshima University, Higashihiroshima City, Japan.
authors.forename: Shikako
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.forename: Yoshiteru
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hasegawa
authors.forename: Tatsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kasai
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019054:Evoked Potentials, Motor / Q000502:physiology*; D005385:Fingers / Q000294:innervation*; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D011214:Practice, Psychological