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  • 1
    Electronic Resource
    Electronic Resource
    Springer
    Experimental brain research 109 (1996), S. 127-135 
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Transcranial magnetic brain stimulation ; Motor cortex excitability ; Lorazepam ; Benzodiazepine ; Human
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract The effect of the short-acting benzodiazepine lorazepam on motor cortex excitability was investigated in 11 healthy volunteers using the technique of focal transcranial magnetic stimulation. The threshold intensity for evoking an electromyographic response in the resting and active abductor digiti minimi muscle, the size of the motor evoked potential, the duration of the cortical and peripheral silent periods, the corticocortical inhibition and facilitation after paired magnetic stimuli, and the transcallosal inhibition were used as parameters to assess various aspects of motor system excitability. Baseline values were compared with data obtained 2, 5 and 24 h after a single oral dose of 2.5 mg lorazepam. Resting and active motor thresholds and the size of the motor evoked potential remained unchanged. The duration of the cortical silent period was prolonged with a maximum effect 5 h after drug intake, while the peripheral silent period did not show any lengthening at that time. The corticocortical inhibition showed a tendency toward more inhibition, while the corticocortical facilitation was almost completely suppressed. The transcallosal inhibition showed an inconsistent trend to less inhibition. In parallel to the pharmacokinetics of lorazepam, all effects peaked at 2 h and 5 h, and were (partially) reversible after 24 h. It is hypothesized that most of these findings are due to the reinforcement of GABA action by lorazepam at the level of the motor cortex. The lack of effect on motor threshold and on the size of the motor evoked potential may indicate that these parameters are physiologically distinct from corticocortical excitability and the cortical silent period. The relevance of the present data in clinical epileptology is discussed.
    Type of Medium: Electronic Resource
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  • 2
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Key words Transcranial magnetic stimulation ; Silent period ; Voluntary motor drive ; Motor threshold ; Human
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract  To evaluate changes in the motor system during the silent period (SP) induced by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of the motor cortex, we investigated motor thresholds as parameters of the excitability of the cortico-muscular pathway after a suprathreshold conditioning stimulus in the abductor digiti minimi muscle (ADM) of normal humans. Since the unconditioned motor threshold was lower during voluntary tonic contraction than at rest (31.9±5.4% vs. 45.6±7.5%), it is suggested that the difference between active and resting motor threshold indicates the magnitude of the voluntary drive on the cortico-muscular pathway. Therefore, we compared conditioned resting and active motor threshold (cRMT and cAMT) during the SP. cRMT showed an intensity-dependent period of elevation of more than 200 ms in duration and approximately 17% of the maximum stimulator output above the unconditioned threshold, due to decreased excitability of the cortico-muscular pathway after the conditioning stimulus. Some 30–40 ms after the conditioning stimulus, cAMT approximated cRMT, indicating complete suppression of the voluntary motor drive. This suppression did not start directly after the conditioning stimulus since cAMT was still significantly lower than the cRMT within the first 30–40 ms. Threshold elevation was significantly longer than the SP (220±41 vs. 151±28 ms). Recovery of the voluntary motor drive started late in the SP and was nearly complete at the end of the SP, although thresholds were still significantly elevated. We conclude that the SP is largely due to a suppression of voluntary motor drive, while the threshold elevation is a different inhibitory phenomenon that is of less importance for the generation of the SP, at least in its late part. It is argued that the pathway of fast cortico-spinal fibers activated by TMS is partially different from the pathway involved in the maintenance of tonic voluntary muscle activation.
    Type of Medium: Electronic Resource
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