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Electrifying the motor engram: effects of tDCS on motor learning and control

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Abstract

Learning to control our movements is accompanied by neuroplasticity of motor areas of the brain. The mechanisms of neuroplasticity are diverse and produce what is referred to as the motor engram, i.e., the neural trace of the motor memory. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) alters the neural and behavioral correlates of motor learning, but its precise influence on the motor engram is unknown. In this review, we summarize the effects of tDCS on neural activity and suggest a few key principles: (1) Firing rates are increased by anodal polarization and decreased by cathodal polarization, (2) anodal polarization strengthens newly formed associations, and (3) polarization modulates the memory of new/preferred firing patterns. With these principles in mind, we review the effects of tDCS on motor control, motor learning, and clinical applications. The increased spontaneous and evoked firing rates may account for the modulation of dexterity in non-learning tasks by tDCS. The facilitation of new association may account for the effect of tDCS on learning in sequence tasks while the ability of tDCS to strengthen memories of new firing patterns may underlie the effect of tDCS on consolidation of skills. We then describe the mechanisms of neuroplasticity of motor cortical areas and how they might be influenced by tDCS. We end with current challenges for the fields of brain stimulation and motor learning.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by NIH grant R01 NS078311. JJOdX is supported by a Brains Back to Brussels fellowship from the Brussels Region (Belgium).

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  1. Institute of Information and Communication Technologies, Electronics and Applied Mathematics (ICTEAM) and Institute of Neuroscience (IoNS), Université Catholique de Louvain, Avenue Georges Lemaitre, 4, 1348, Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium

    Jean-Jacques Orban de Xivry

  2. Laboratory for Computational Motor Control, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 720 Rutland Ave, 410 Traylor Building, Baltimore, MD, 21205-2195, USA

    Reza Shadmehr

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  1. Jean-Jacques Orban de Xivry
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  2. Reza Shadmehr
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Correspondence to Jean-Jacques Orban de Xivry.

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Orban de Xivry, JJ., Shadmehr, R. Electrifying the motor engram: effects of tDCS on motor learning and control. Exp Brain Res 232, 3379–3395 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-014-4087-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-014-4087-6

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