Combination of 5 Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and tactile coactivation boosts tactile discrimination in humans.
A combination of 5 Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over the left primary somatosensory cortex together with tactile coactivation applied to the right index-finger representation (coac + rTMS) boosted tactile discrimination ability tested on the right index-finger. Applying coactivation alone caused a 0.25 mm lowering in tactile discrimination thresholds. In contrast, after coac + rTMS we found a significant further improvement of discrimination thresholds in comparison to the coactivation-induced perceptual changes alone. We demonstrate that the individual further improvement after coac + rTMS depended on the effectiveness of the coactivation protocol when applied alone. Subjects, who showed little gain in tactile performance after coactivation alone, showed the largest improvement after coac + rTMS implying that the combined application was selective for poor learners. The selective effects of coac + rTMS are discussed in respect to N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor activation.
Ragert
Patrick
P
Institute for Neuroinformatics, Theoretical Biology, Ruhr-University, ND04, D-44780 Bochum, Germany.
Dinse
Hubert R
HR
Pleger
Burkhard
B
Wilimzig
Claudia
C
Frombach
Elke
E
Schwenkreis
Peter
P
Tegenthoff
Martin
M
D000328:Adult; D004193:Discrimination Learning / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017774:Long-Term Potentiation / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / Q000502:physiology; D012684:Sensory Thresholds / Q000502:physiology*; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000502:physiology; D014110:Touch / Q000502:physiology*; D050781:Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation; D004561:Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation / Q000379:methods
D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate