TY - JOUR

T1 - Use-dependent plasticity in human primary motor hand area

T2 - Synergistic interplay between training and immobilization

AU - Raffin, Estelle

AU - Siebner, Hartwig Roman

PY - 2019

Y1 - 2019

N2 - Training and immobilization are powerful drivers of use-dependent plasticity in human primary motor hand area (M1HAND). In young right-handed volunteers, corticomotor representations of the left first dorsal interosseus and abductor digiti minimi muscles were mapped with neuronavigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to elucidate how finger-specific training and immobilization interact within M1HAND. A first group of volunteers trained to track a moving target on a smartphone with the left index or little finger for one week. Linear sulcus shape-informed TMS mapping revealed that the tracking skill acquired with the trained finger was transferred to the nontrained finger of the same hand. The cortical representations of the trained and nontrained finger muscle converged in proportion with skill transfer. In a second group, the index or little finger were immobilized for one week. Immobilization alone attenuated the corticomotor representation and pre-existing tracking skill of the immobilized finger. In a third group, the detrimental effects of finger immobilization were blocked by concurrent training of the nonimmobilized finger. Conversely, immobilization of the nontrained fingers accelerated learning in the adjacent trained finger during the first 2 days of training. Together, the results provide novel insight into use-dependent cortical plasticity, revealing synergistic rather than competitive interaction patterns within M1HAND

AB - Training and immobilization are powerful drivers of use-dependent plasticity in human primary motor hand area (M1HAND). In young right-handed volunteers, corticomotor representations of the left first dorsal interosseus and abductor digiti minimi muscles were mapped with neuronavigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to elucidate how finger-specific training and immobilization interact within M1HAND. A first group of volunteers trained to track a moving target on a smartphone with the left index or little finger for one week. Linear sulcus shape-informed TMS mapping revealed that the tracking skill acquired with the trained finger was transferred to the nontrained finger of the same hand. The cortical representations of the trained and nontrained finger muscle converged in proportion with skill transfer. In a second group, the index or little finger were immobilized for one week. Immobilization alone attenuated the corticomotor representation and pre-existing tracking skill of the immobilized finger. In a third group, the detrimental effects of finger immobilization were blocked by concurrent training of the nonimmobilized finger. Conversely, immobilization of the nontrained fingers accelerated learning in the adjacent trained finger during the first 2 days of training. Together, the results provide novel insight into use-dependent cortical plasticity, revealing synergistic rather than competitive interaction patterns within M1HAND

KW - Immobilization

KW - Learning transfer

KW - Plasticity

KW - Training

KW - Transcranial magnetic stimulation

U2 - 10.1093/cercor/bhy226

DO - 10.1093/cercor/bhy226

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 30364930

AN - SCOPUS:85058873025

VL - 29

SP - 356

EP - 371

JO - Cerebral Cortex

JF - Cerebral Cortex

SN - 1047-3211

IS - 1

ER -