title: Preconditioning tDCS facilitates subsequent tDCS effect on skill acquisition in older adults.
abstract: Functional motor declines that often occur with advancing age-including reduced efficacy to learn new skills-can have a substantial impact on the quality of life. Recent studies using noninvasive brain stimulation indicate that priming the corticospinal system by lowering the threshold for the induction of long-term potentiation-like plasticity before skill training may facilitate subsequent skill learning. Here, we used "priming" protocol, in which we used transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) applying the cathode over the primary motor cortex (M1) before the anode placed over M1 during unimanual isometric force control training (FORCEtraining). Older individuals who received tDCS with the cathode placed over M1 before tDCS with the anode placed over M1 concurrent with FORCEtrainingshowed greater skill improvement and corticospinal excitability increases following the tDCS/FORCEtrainingprotocol compared with both young and older individuals who did not receive the preceding tDCS with the cathode placed over M1. The results suggested that priming tDCS protocols may be used in clinical settings to improve motor function and thus maintain the functional independence of older adults.
authors.affiliation: Action and Cognition Laboratory, School of Psychology and Exercise Science, Murdoch University, Perth, Australia; Motor Control Laboratory, KU Leuven, Research Center of Movement Control and Neuroplasticity, Group Biomedical Sciences, Leuven, Belgium. Electronic address: H.Fujiyama@murdoch.edu.au.
authors.forename: Hakuei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fujiyama
authors.affiliation: Human Motor Control Laboratory, School of Medicine, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia.
authors.forename: Mark R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Hinder
authors.affiliation: Motor Control Laboratory, KU Leuven, Research Center of Movement Control and Neuroplasticity, Group Biomedical Sciences, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Azadeh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barzideh
authors.affiliation: Motor Control Laboratory, KU Leuven, Research Center of Movement Control and Neuroplasticity, Group Biomedical Sciences, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Charis
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Van de Vijver
authors.affiliation: Motor Control Laboratory, KU Leuven, Research Center of Movement Control and Neuroplasticity, Group Biomedical Sciences, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Andreea C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Badache
authors.affiliation: Motor Control Laboratory, KU Leuven, Research Center of Movement Control and Neuroplasticity, Group Biomedical Sciences, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Maria Nathalya
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Manrique-C
authors.affiliation: Human Motor Control Laboratory, School of Medicine, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Reissig
authors.affiliation: Neural Control of Movement Laboratory, ETH, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Xue
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Motor Control Laboratory, KU Leuven, Research Center of Movement Control and Neuroplasticity, Group Biomedical Sciences, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Oron
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Levin
authors.affiliation: Human Motor Control Laboratory, School of Medicine, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia; Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK.
authors.forename: Jeffery J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Summers
authors.affiliation: Motor Control Laboratory, KU Leuven, Research Center of Movement Control and Neuroplasticity, Group Biomedical Sciences, Leuven, Belgium; KU Leuven, Leuven Research Institute for Neuroscience & Disease (LIND), Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Stephan P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Swinnen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D004566:Electrodes; D019054:Evoked Potentials, Motor; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D017774:Long-Term Potentiation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology*; D009433:Neural Inhibition; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity; D011788:Quality of Life; D065908:Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation; D050781:Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Healthy aging; Homeostatic metaplasticity; Primary motor cortex; Skill acquisition; Transcranial direct current stimulation