title: Biological factors and age-dependence of primary motor cortex experimental plasticity.
abstract: To evaluate whether the age-dependence of brain plasticity correlates with the levels of proteins involved in hormone and brain functions we executed a paired associative stimulation (PAS) protocol and blood tests. We measured the PAS-induced plasticity in the primary motor cortex. Blood levels of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), estradiol, the insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1, the insulin-like growth factor binding protein (IGFBP)-3, progesterone, sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), testosterone, and the transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1) were determined in 15 healthy men and 20 healthy women. We observed an age-related reduction of PAS-induced plasticity in females that it is not present in males. In females, PAS-induced plasticity displayed a correlation with testosterone (p = 0.006) that became a trend after the adjustment for the age effect (p = 0.078). In males, IGF-1 showed a nominally significant correlation with the PAS-induced plasticity (p = 0.043). In conclusion, we observed that hormone blood levels (testosterone in females and IGF-1 in males) may be involved in the age-dependence of brain plasticity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Rome, Italy.|Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, West Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Renato
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Polimanti
authors.affiliation: Department of Imaging and Neurodegeneration Laboratory, IRCCS San Raffaele Pisana, Rome, Italy.|Medical Statistics and Information Technology and Department of Neuroscience, Fatebenefratelli Foundation, AFaR Division, Fatebenefratelli Hospital-Isola Tiberina, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Ilaria
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Simonelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University "G. d'Annunzio", Chieti, Italy.|Institute of Advanced Biomedical Technologies, University "G. d'Annunzio", Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Filippo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zappasodi
authors.affiliation: Medical Statistics and Information Technology and Department of Neuroscience, Fatebenefratelli Foundation, AFaR Division, Fatebenefratelli Hospital-Isola Tiberina, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Mariacarla
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ventriglia
authors.affiliation: Cognitive Neuroscience Section and Molecular Markers Laboratory, IRCCS Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli, Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria Concetta
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Pellicciari
authors.affiliation: Cognitive Neuroscience Section and Molecular Markers Laboratory, IRCCS Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli, Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: Luisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Benussi
authors.affiliation: Department of Imaging and Neurodegeneration Laboratory, IRCCS San Raffaele Pisana, Rome, Italy.|Medical Statistics and Information Technology and Department of Neuroscience, Fatebenefratelli Foundation, AFaR Division, Fatebenefratelli Hospital-Isola Tiberina, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Rosanna
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Squitti
authors.affiliation: Department of Imaging and Neurodegeneration Laboratory, IRCCS San Raffaele Pisana, Rome, Italy.|Institute of Neurology, Catholic University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo Maria
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Rossini
authors.affiliation: Department of Imaging and Neurodegeneration Laboratory, IRCCS San Raffaele Pisana, Rome, Italy. franca.tecchio@cnr.it.|Laboratory of Electrophysiology for Translational neuroScience (LET'S), Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies (ISTC), National Research Council (CNR), Rome, Italy. franca.tecchio@cnr.it.
authors.forename: Franca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tecchio
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000375:Aging / Q000097:blood; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000097:blood; D004558:Electric Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D004958:Estradiol / Q000097:blood; D019054:Evoked Potentials, Motor; D005260:Female; D006225:Hand / Q000294:innervation; D006801:Humans; D018972:Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 3 / Q000097:blood; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008475:Median Nerve / Q000502:physiology; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity; D012738:Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin / Q000378:metabolism; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood; D050781:Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1 / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; C515497:IGFBP3 protein, human; D018972:Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 3; D012738:Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1; D013739:Testosterone; D004958:Estradiol; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I; C579455:BDNF protein, human
keywords: Hormones; Insulin-like growth factor 1; Paired associative stimulation; Primary motor cortex plasticity; Sex differences; Testosterone