title: Changes in spinal excitability after PAS.
abstract: Repetitive pairing of a peripheral stimulation with a magnetic transcortical stimulation (PAS) is widely used to induce plastic changes in the human motor cortex noninvasively. Based on the contrast between PAS-induced increase of corticospinal excitability and absence of PAS-induced increase of the spinal F wave size, it has been generally accepted that PAS-induced plasticity is cortical in origin. Here, instead of F waves, we used H reflex recruitment curves to assess spinal excitability, and we demonstrate that PAS induces parallel changes in cortical and spinal excitability.
authors.affiliation: Human Motor Control Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. meunier.sabine@free.fr
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Meunier
authors.forename: Heike
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Russmann
authors.forename: Marion
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Simonetta-Moreau
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hallett
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D019054:Evoked Potentials, Motor / Q000502:physiology; D006181:H-Reflex / Q000502:physiology; D006225:Hand / Q000294:innervation / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008475:Median Nerve / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000294:innervation / Q000502:physiology; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011999:Recruitment, Neurophysiological / Q000502:physiology; D013131:Spine / Q000502:physiology*; D050781:Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation; D014953:Wrist / Q000294:innervation / Q000502:physiology