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Plasticity Induced in the Human Spinal Cord by Focal Muscle Vibration

Rocchi, L; Suppa, A; Leodori, G; Celletti, C; Camerota, F; Rothwell, J; Berardelli, A; (2018) Plasticity Induced in the Human Spinal Cord by Focal Muscle Vibration. Frontiers in Neurology , 9 , Article 935. 10.3389/fneur.2018.00935. Green open access

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Abstract

The spinal cord spinal cord has in the past been considered a hardwired system which responds to inputs in a stereotyped way. A growing body of data have instead demonstrated its ability to retain information and modify its effector capabilities, showing activity-dependent plasticity. Whereas, plasticity in the spinal cord is well documented after different forms of physical exercise, whether exogenous stimulation can induce similar changes is still a matter of debate. This issue is both of scientific and clinical relevance, since at least one form of stimulation, i.e., focal muscle vibration (fMV), is currently used as a treatment for spasticity. The aim of the present study was to assess whether fMV can induce plasticity at the SC level when applied to different muscles of the upper limb. Changes in different electrophysiological measures, such as H-reflex testing homonymous and heteronymous pathways, reciprocal inhibition and somatosensory evoked potentials were used as outcomes. We found that fMV was able to induce long-term depression-like plasticity in specific spinal cord circuits depending on the muscle vibrated. These findings helped understand the basic mechanisms underlying the effects of fMV and might help to develop more advanced stimulation protocols.

Type: Article
Title: Plasticity Induced in the Human Spinal Cord by Focal Muscle Vibration
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2018.00935
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2018.00935
Language: English
Additional information: © 2018 Rocchi, Suppa, Leodori, Celletti, Camerota, Rothwell and Berardelli. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Keywords: H-reflex, reciprocal inhibition, muscle vibration, spinal cord, plasticity, somatosensory evoked potentials
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology > Clinical and Movement Neurosciences
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10061962
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