title: Enhancement of motor consolidation by post-training transcranial direct current stimulation in older people.
abstract: Consolidation, by which performance increments after a training intervention are secured and sometimes generated, is reduced in elderly humans. The present study addressed the question whether transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) applied after motor training improves consolidation of explicit motor sequence learning in healthy older humans. In the first experiment, anodal or cathodal tDCS to the left primary motor cortex, anodal tDCS to premotor cortex, or sham tDCS was applied immediately after completion of a finger sequence learning task. Performance was retested at 8 and 22 hours after the initial training session. Whereas all groups achieved similar performance at the end of training, off-line improvements differed between groups at later retesting, depending on the type of intervention. Relative to the other 3 interventions, anodal tDCS to primary motor cortex (M1) led to performance improvements already at retesting 8 hours after initial learning and were maintained on the next day. In the second experiment, effects of the timing of post-training anodal tDCS to M1 with respect to the end of training were studied. Participants received anodal tDCS of M1 immediately or 60 or 120 minutes after training and were retested on sequence performance 8 hours post training. Only application of tDCS immediately after the end of training, but not after 1 or 2 hours, enhanced off-line consolidation. These findings suggest that anodal tDCS applied off-line immediately post training to M1 interacts specifically with early processes promoting consolidation of motor sequence learning in healthy older individuals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Jost-Julian
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Rumpf
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Mirko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wegscheider
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hinselmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fricke
authors.affiliation: Functional Neuroimaging Unit, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Neuroplasticity Research Group, Department of Kinesiology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Bradley R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: King
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Weise
authors.affiliation: Division for Clinical and Cognitive Neurosciences, Department of Neurology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
authors.forename: Juliane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Klann
authors.affiliation: Division for Clinical and Cognitive Neurosciences, Department of Neurology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
authors.forename: Ferdinand
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Binkofski
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche e Chirurgiche, Università Magna Graecia, Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Buccino
authors.affiliation: Sagol Department of Neurobiology, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel; Department of Human Biology and The E.J. Safra Brain Research Center for the Study of Learning Disabilities, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: Avi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Karni
authors.affiliation: Functional Neuroimaging Unit, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Julien
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Doyon
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany. Electronic address: joseph.classen@medizin.uni-leipzig.de.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Classen
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005385:Fingers / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D000069077:Memory Consolidation / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D065908:Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation
keywords: Consolidation; Motor learning; Transcranial direct current stimulation